Family is more than Blood
by Emptyfridges
Summary: This is the sequel to The Aftermath of the Ferry Fiasco but can be read on it's own. It's several months after Homecoming and Tony now has a more active role in Peter's life. But Peter is a teenage superhero, this isn't easy for either of them. A Spiderson/IronDad story full of fluff. Does contain disciplinary spanking of a minor. NOW BEING REVISED
1. Why would anyone care about you?

**AN: This is a sequel to my first story 'The Aftermath of the Ferry Fiasco' and set a couple of months later. Although I loved it I am entirely ignoring Infinity War, hope you enjoy.**

 **EmptyFridges**

Peter mindlessly tapped his pen on the edge of the desk he was seated at as his Spanish teacher droned on about conjunctions. It was Wednesday and the school day couldn't end fast enough, Mr Stark promised him they could spend the evening in the lab tinkering with his webshooters and he couldn't wait.

"Peter….Peter! Are you even listening to me?" Peter was startled back to the present by the tone of his teacher, he looks down blushing as everyone turns to stare at him.

"Lo siento, ¿puedes repetir la pregunta por favor?" He asks cheeks burning as his classmates titter around him.

The teacher repeats the question and he mumbles back a response quickly to avoid further attention.

Minutes later he starts as his spidey-sense tingles then he is immediately hit on the back of the head with a ball of paper. Reaching down he picks it up surreptitiously to avoid another reprimand from his teacher and flattens it out. He is faced with a crudely drawn picture of a boy in frayed trousers, a slightly too short on the arms sweater and surrounded by books and crying. The words 'Poor Penis Parker' frame the drawing and he doesn't need to turn around to know it is Flash sniggering behind him. Flushing he angrily scrunches the paper back up and drops it into his bag to throw away later. Studiously ignoring the boy and his gang of morons laughing behind him he continues to note down his teachers words, determined not to let the boy see how it had affected him.

Only ten more minutes until lunch, he thinks to himself, then another two classes and I can go to the tower. His stomach is in pain from hunger and all he can think about is getting his lunch, breakfast seemed so long ago. As soon as the bell rings he grabs his bag and rushes out determined to meet Ned and join the lunch queue as quickly as possible. So focussed on looking for Ned in the sea of students crowding the corridor he is taken by surprise when a harsh shove pushes him sideways into some lockers. Shocked he turns to see Flash grinning at him and unconsciously curls in on himself slightly gripping his bag tightly.

"Please Flash I don't have time for this, just let me get my lunch, leave me alone" he says tiredly.

The boy's smile becomes predatory as he leers over Peter.

"You know, I don't think I will Penis" he replies and turning to address his friends continues, "You know what boys? I'm feeling really hungry today what about you?"

Dread pools in Peter's stomach knowing whats coming as they all agree with Flash. Quicker than Peter expected he is punched hard in the stomach and unconsciously drops his bag as he moves to grab his stomach. He knows any bruise will be gone within the hour but right now he isn't Spiderman he is poor, useless Peter Parker and has to act like he would have a year ago, before he was bitten. As he clutches his stomach he hears the others grab at his ratty bag and open it emptying the contents all over the floor. He sees his blue meal ticket which gives him a free lunch flutter towards the ground and reaches out a hand to grab it but is beaten to it by Flash.

"Oooh thanks Penis," he jeers. "I think I'll take this, you'll have to go buy yourself something."

That ass knows I don't have money for buying lunch he thinks furiously as he sits stewing on the floor surrounded by his things while the boy and his posse move away.

He flinches as a hand comes down to rest on his shoulder.

"Only me."

He turns and smiles up at Ned who quickly helps him pick up his things.

"Sorry I got held up in biology, you can have some of my lunch if you want" He offers.

Mumbling his thanks Peter pulls himself up self-consciously dusting himself off. He enters the cafeteria to a shout of thanks from Flash grinning at him as he bites into a burger.

"Ignore him, he's an idiot" Ned assures him as he pulls Peter towards their normal table.

Nodding absently Peter sits down as Ned walks away to grab some lunch for them both. He soon returns and Peter eats a few chips to stave off the hunger pains in his stomach and accepts a bag of crisps but leaves the rest for Ned. After all Ned wasn't the loser who let their meal ticket get taken by Flash and his friends.

Seeing Peter is brooding, most probably about Flash's actions Ned tries to distract his friend. "So, what's the plan with Mr Stark tonight?" He says knowing asking about Stark would cheer his friend up, it always does. He grins as his friend's mood does a total 180 and he starts to babble about the changes they were thinking of marking to the web grenade feature of his suit.

The rest of lunch passes quickly and Peter is considerably happier by the time the bell rings for the start of afternoon classes.

The two friends quickly make their way to their computer class and drop down into their usual seats towards the back of the room. Within five minutes the classroom is full and the lesson begins.

Peter finds computer class fine, it's fairly easy and he never really has to do much revision for it, but it is Ned's favourite class by far. After hacking into Peter's suits all those months ago the boy got really into coding and now regularly codes in his spare time now determined to work in the field after school.

The class is fairly loud as everyone chats while doing their work. Staring at his screen Peter listens with half an ear as Ned prattles on about his new Lego set…"yeah so we could make it this weekend? Are you free?" he asks.

"Can't do this weekend I'm at my internship. Mr Stark said he would take me…" he starts before being rudely interrupted.

"Ugh Penis stop this lying!" Comes Flashes voice from behind him, he had been walking back to his seat and overhead Peter's words. "No one believes a loser like you actually knows Tony Stark? You only have that internship because it's good publicity to hire poor losers." He says cruelly "You just make coffee and take calls, stop lying for attention. Why would anyone care about you anyway?"

 _Why would anyone care about you?_ The words rattle round in Peter's head and he hardly notices as Flash moves away. He ignores Ned's worried looks and turns back to his screen to look busy as the words keep going round and round in his head.

Maybe he was just a pity project. He thought to himself. Why would Mr Stark care about Peter? But that can't be right Mr Stark has told him he cares about him before. But that could be lies? He lies to the press all the time he could lie to me too. Maybe he just likes Spiderman and Peter is the unfortunate cost.

Wallowing in his misery his earlier excitement for working in the lab after school fades away. The rest of computing and the following chemistry class fly by but Peter knows he will be asking Ned for his notes later as he has been preoccupied the entire afternoon Flash's words still in the forefront of his mind. Luckily Flash wasn't in his chemistry class and he thought if he rushed he would be able to go to his locker for his books and go out the front of the school to meet Happy without running into the boy. With this in mind he practically ran out the classroom as the bell rang.

Unfortunately Peter's day could get worse than hunger, a punch and verbal abuse as Flash appeared round the corner just as Peter pushed his locker closed. Peter turned ready to walk away but saw two of Flash's friends coming towards him in the opposite direction.

"Oi Penis, what are you doing here?" his tormentor calls.

Realising he has nowhere to go he stops and turns to look at Flash. "You know I think I get why you are alternat for decathlon Flash" he replies, "I'm standing here in front of a locker with my name on the front, full of my things, holding a school bag full of textbooks from this school, it's almost as if I go to school here."

Others in the vicinity laugh quietly around them and Flash flushes in a mix of anger and embarrassment.

"Shut up Penis" he shouts back getting up into Peter's personal space and promptly shoving him hard. Peter puts on the stumble back as he could have easily stood his ground as Spiderman but of course Penis Parker could not. Flash sneered down at him and pushed him again making him fall to the ground.

"That's where you belong Penis, remember that. No one cares about you. You are nothing." He snarls spitting on the fallen boy before walking away.

Ashamed and uncomfortable with the others in the corridor staring at him Peter stands up avoiding eye contact and jogs away just as his phone beeps.

 _Where are you kid?_ – Happy

He doesn't bother replying but speeds up and waves half-heartedly as Happy's car comes into view. With a mumbled hello he climbs into the back seat throwing his bag down forcefully.

"Good day?" Asks Happy eyeing him in the rear view mirror.

"Hmmm? Yeah fine Happy" he sighs as he turns to look out the window Flash's words still repeating in his head.

 _Why would anyone care about you? You are nothing._


	2. You're not Useless

Happy's eyes keep flicking up to look at Peter in the rear view mirror unsettled with the uncharacteristic quiet from the boy, it was usually difficult getting a word in edgeways around his ramblings, he was a little like Tony like that. He had been driving twenty minutes and the boy was still looking forlornly out the window.

"You alright kid?" He queries watching as the boy plasters on an obviously fake smile.

"Yeah great totally fine Happy." Yeah the kid isn't fine.

Peter fidgets as they get closer to the tower fiddling with a loose thread on his sweater as Happy pulls into the private garage. He grabs his bag and swings it onto his back as he climbs out the car and follows Happy towards the elevator. The man looks at him as they step inside it eyebrow raised. Peter sighs, ever since he was given his own password Happy stopped using his own when with Peter. The boy had spent weeks thinking it was some secret code before finding out it was voice activated and Happy just hated saying I'm a Happy Chappy. To be honest having his own access code for Stark tower sounded really cool but it was just embarrassing having to say either Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers or Spiderbaby every time he visited (the phrase depended on whether or not he was in his suit). Of course this wasn't the only security measure Peter knew F.R.I.D.A.Y assessed whether they were themselves with brief scans while they were inside the elevator.

Happy's impatient cough brought Peter out of his musings and he mumbled his code blushing. Before he knew it they were at the second to highest floor where Mr Stark's lab was located and he immediately saw the man himself on the far side of the room a cup of coffee in his hand as he looked over some blueprints projected onto the wall.

"Well if it isn't my favourite Spider" Tony says turning around at their entrance, eyes warming slightly as he looks at the teen. "Have you eaten?" follows immediately and at Peter's shake of the head he walks over putting a hand on the boys shoulder. "Upstairs, now. You know where the snacks are. Bring down a few, we might be here a while." He lightly turns Peter pushing him into the lift as he tells F.R.I.D.A.Y. to take the boy upstairs.

Spinning to look at Happy as soon as the elevator doors close he asks, "so whats up? You look worried. Your shoulders were tense when you walked in."

"It's the boy."

"What? Is he hurt? Why didn't you say something sooner?" He says frantically worry clouding his face.

"No he's fine" the bodyguard assures smiling slightly at his Boss's overprotectiveness. "Well maybe not fine he was quiet on the way here. I think something is bothering him."

Something is bothering him? Tony thinks to himself. "Okay, no problem, I got this. Don't worry. I have this."

Happy grins nodding wondering which of them Tony is trying to convince. As Peter comes back granola in one hand and a fistful more in the other Happy turns and leaves in the elevator the boy just vacated.

"Okay my little Spider let's get to work."

A small smile works its way onto Peter's face as he drops the granola down on the table in the corner they had christened the snack table several months before. He quickly goes over to his usual work station and projects his webshooter designs in front of him. He takes out a pen and starts jotting down notes and ideas as the billionaire looks on. Peter soon forgets about the man as he relaxes into his work quickly moving on from the blueprints to an actual webshooter.

"So what are you trying to do underoos?" he hears twenty minutes later making him jump as he was so engrossed in his work.

"Oh umm just I want the webshooters to make it easier to replace web cartridges so I don't have to stop to do it. I'm trying to make it something I can do with just one hand. The idea is if I flick my wrist a certain way it will drop the empty cartridge and then…."

Tony looks at the kid fondly as he rambles on about his intended improvements, proud with what the boy has come up with. "That sounds great buddy, you really are good at this."

He watches the teen blush under his praise and look down shyly. "Well I won't distract you get on with it."

Peter does as he is bid and continues working quietly.

After another twenty minutes Tony looks over at the boy, he has been quiet today he thinks to himself. Usually the boy talks a mile a minute about anything and everything.

Peter continues working but it seems less fun than usual, less exciting. No matter how hard he tries Flash's cruel words won't leave his head. After all, why would Mr Stark care about useless Peter Parker, he's a busy man Peter should be grateful the man is putting up with him, grateful he even lets him in the building, grateful…

"You know you can tell me anything Peter right?" Tony's words interrupt his spiralling thoughts and he nods distractedly continuing his work.

Tony leaves it at that and continues to watch the boy work rather mechanically and without his usual enthusiasm for the next ten minutes. "Right Peter what is it? You've been quiet since you came in, whats wrong?"

Startled eyes wide Peter looks up, "n-nothing Mr Stark."

"No. Come on somethings wrong. You can tell me, Peter." He watches the boy bite his lip clearly wrestling with himself. Tony stays quiet looking at him a single eyebrow raised, waiting.

"Do you only care about me because I'm Spiderman?" The boy blurts out.

Tony takes half a step back as if struck, he never expected those words to come out the teen's mouth.

"It's okay, I understand sir really, why would you care about me? I'm no one just a kid from Queens…"

"What no! Peter look at me. No." Tony steps forward putting his hand under the boys chin forcing him to look him in the eye. "No Peter, I care about you. Peter Parker. Yes you are Spiderman and we would probably have never met without you being Spiderman. Of course I care about you. Why else would I make sure you eat enough and keep an eye on your grades. If I didn't care about you I would not punish you for getting in dangerous situations, I would not have you staying over every other weekend or invite you into my lab."

Tony's heart breaks as he looks down at Peter, he wipes a tear from the child's cheek. "Where did this come from Peter?" He asks.

Peter looks down embarrassed and mumbles an apology. "No I don't want an apology Peter where did this come from?"

"A boy at school was just running his mouth, saying stuff."

"What was he saying Pete?"

"He said I was a liar and my internship was just making coffee and calls, said you didn't care about me. That no one cares about me because I'm just a useless loser"

Tony pulls him into a hug and feels the boys arm circle him. "Peter I care about you so much. May cares about you. Happy cares, he was worried when you were quiet today Pete, we all care about you. Peter Parker. Your friends care, don't listen to that boy."

He sighs as Peter sobs into his chest and gently manouvers the boy so they can sit on the sofa in the corner. He whispers assurances in the boy's ear as he runs his hand through his unruly hair. "You are not and will never be useless Peter. You are worth ten of that boy. Was it just words though Peter? You need to tell me, was it just this one time?"

Peter feels safe in Mr Stark's arms but too embarrassed to tell him just how awful Flash is he nods into his chest mumbling that it is just words nothing else, he's fine.

"You would tell me though if it was more wouldn't you Peter?" The man asks worried.

Peter nods again into his chest as he starts to doze off.

A few minutes pass and Tony feels the boy relax and hears his breaths even out. Untangling himself from Peter he arranges him so he is lying comfortably on the sofa.

"I care about you so much it hurts Peter." He whispers thinking to himself that if it was anything more Peter would tell him. Wouldn't he? Why wouldn't he? Yes he definitely would.


	3. The Black Eye

Peter didn't know what to tell Mr Stark, several weeks had passed since the whole crying into the man's chest incident and Flash was getting worse. He had become more physical and it was impossible to hide. He looked at his feet as the elevator rose Happy's hand resting on his shoulder, he didn't know whether it was to reassure him or keep him from running. He knew the man had probably texted Mr Stark already to warn him what he looked like. Should he just try and shrug it off? Say it was from patrol? But he hadn't patrolled last night and Peter knew with his enhanced healing he wouldn't look this bad if the injury was two days old.

Tony was sitting on the couch in the lounge wringing his hands, as he heard the elevator arrive he turned and couldn't prevent the small gasp that slipped out when he laid eyes on Peter. The kid looked awful. His right eye was swollen shut and blood leaked from his lip.

Tony walked towards the teen gripping his shoulders as he checked the boy over for other injuries.

"m-fine Mr Stark." Peter mumbled.

The man let out a snort, "If this is fine I never want to see not fine Pete. Sit down and put this on your eye." He said as he handed Peter the bag of peas Happy had just handed him.

Peter sat himself down on one of the couches as he held the peas on his face. He didn't know how to start, how do you tell your idol you're too weak to stand up to one normal un-enhanced fifteen year old and a few of his friends? He started a little as he felt the cushions dip down beside him as Mr Stark decided to sit alongside rather than opposite him. He was unsurprised when Happy sat down opposite them, the two had grown closer in recent months so he wasn't surprised the man wanted to know how he ended up with a black eye.

"Pete who did this to you?"

He looks down biting his lip wondering whether he should just lie and say he snuck out of school to go on patrol. But Mr Stark probably had a way of knowing when he was on patrol so he doubted that would work. And the last time he lied to the man he spent twenty minutes staring into the corner…maybe no answer was better than a lie.

Tony looked down at the boy and gently removed his lip from between his teeth, "don't do that Pete, come on who did this to you it had to have happened at school. You can speak to me, would you prefer if I called May? Would you tell her?"

The boy shook his head but still refused to answer.

After several beats of silence Happy suddenly interrupted. "It was that boy wasn't it? With the stupid name?"

The boy's now chalky white complexion was answer enough for the two men.

"The one from a few weeks ago?" Tony asked. "You told me it was just words what's going on Peter? You haven't been yourself in a while. You've been quieter, paler, thinner. You can talk to us buddy. Why did he hit you?"

"Because I didn't give him my lunch ticket." The boy sobbed.

"Oh Peter…"

"I'm sorry Mr Stark I should have just given him it, I was just so hungry it's been weeks and I haven't had lunch at all, it's every day. I'm so sorry." The boy word vomits hardly thinking as the words tumble out.

"Woah no. Peter you don't apologise for not giving him your lunch. This is not okay. Why didn't you tell us he has been bullying you?"

"It's fine it's not that bad, if I had just given him the ticket I wouldn't have a black eye, it's fine Mr Stark."

Tony sighs running his fingers through the boy's hair as he thought about what to say to make the boy understand. "What if it was Ned he punched Peter? Would that be okay?"

"No of course not, Ned doesn't deserve that."

"Exactly" Happy says "and you don't either kid, you haven't done anything to deserve that. Is it just you or does he bully others too?"

"Just me"

"Why?" Tony demands outraged that anyone would pick on his kid. His? Woah where did that come from? How could anyone pick on this kid? Wonderful, selfless Peter?

"Because I exist" he says in a strange detached voice as if he is quoting words he knows by heart, "I'm just a useless, nerd, Penis Parker who no one cares about, poor, an easy target."

Silence. Neither man says anything as they look at Peter in total shock, a tear runs down Tony's face. Peter looks into the man's eyes and flinches as sadness turns to fury in seconds.

"Peter you are never to say that again okay! You are Peter Parker, you are amazing, smart, selfless, Spiderman, you are my intern." He is heartbroken that some little punk thinks it's okay to make this boy's life miserable, and for no real reason at that. He feels awful, he should have noticed it had been weeks himself and May had spoken about Peter acting weird but they had initially put it down to hormones or something, not this. Never this.

Happy watches the pair, Peter slumped dejectedly on the couch, Tony's arm around his shoulder holding him tight in a quasi-hug. It looks almost like they are a family. "How long has it been going on Peter?"

The boy shrugs "a few years?" as he feels Tony's grip subconsciously tighten around his shoulders in anger he quickly continues, "but that was just words, he has only hit me once. Just today that's it."

Tony grips the boys chin forcing him to meet his eyes. "Do NOT lie about this Peter, tell the truth, you are not to protect this boy. What's his name and how long has been hitting you. If you don't tell me now you won't get the suit back until you do."

Happy's mouth hangs open at the threat knowing from the other man's tone that was a promise.

Peter seems to come to the same conclusion and his shoulders slump as he replies "Flash, Eugene 'Flash' Thompson and a few months. But I can handle it." He assures voice rising towards the end.

"This is not handling it." Tony replies furiously gesturing to Peter's eye. "Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"I'm not a grass, Mr Stark!" Peter says outraged "I don't care how angry you are at me. I am no grass."

"Pete.." Tony sighs. "I'm not angry at you I'm angry at this kid who thinks it's fine to beat you, bully you and steal your lunch every day! Why didn't you tell us? May loves you, Ned loves you, heck…I love you Peter, we can fix this, it's not a weakness asking for help."

At those words Peter breaks down throwing his arm's round Tony's neck as he cries years of tears over Flash's bullying. Tony rubs his back soothingly and with a single look Happy makes his exit stopping to run his hands through the distraught boy's hair. "I'm here for you too Pete" the man says before leaving.

"Ssh Peter it's okay" Tony soothes the teen. "I'll sort this no need to worry okay, just have a nap…I'll wake you for dinner."

Within minutes the boy is asleep and Tony grabs his phone to call May then Peter's school. This will not happen again. Not on his watch.


	4. The Guest Room

It was Saturday evening and it was a 'tower weekend' so Peter was seated on the couch watching TV with Mr Stark as Pepper moved around the kitchen making dinner for the three of them. Peter liked Pepper she was pretty badass, slightly terrifying when angry but badass all the same. She was Tony's fiancée but didn't seem to mind the random kid the man had allowed into their lives and home, in fact she doted on Peter and was always very welcoming. It baffled him to be honest, why would she be welcoming to some kid she had been dumped with?

Tony reflected on the last few weeks, since himself and May had spoken to Peter's principal the boy was happier, back to his normal hyperactive self, even once Flash's suspension ended. He looked over at the teen lying on the other end of the couch his feet resting on Tony's lap.

"Do I have something on my face?" The boy asked him, huh…seems he was maybe staring at the kid a bit too long.

"No nothing underoos, just thinking," he replied, "I'm going to check how long dinner will be, do you need anything."

"Emm…yeah could you grab my phone charger from the guest room please?"

Pepper walks into the room as Peter is speaking and stops dead in the doorway. "The guest room! The guest room!" She turns furiously to look at Tony who pales as her sharp eyes glare at him. "Peter that's your room, it's not a guest room or a spare room, it's your room."

Peter opens his mouth to say something but a look from Tony has him shutting it again. "Dinner will be ten minutes" Pepper continues, "and I'll grab your charger Pete" she says fondly ruffling his hair.

"She wouldn't have got anything for me" Tony mumbles.

"Sorry do you want to say that again Tony"

"No...no nothing darling" he backtracks as Peter laughs at him.

A minute later Pepper returns throwing Peter his charger. "Go and wash up for dinner Peter once you've plugged that in, remember no phones at the table so not in the kitchen kid."

"Yes Pepper"

"Wait you call her Pepper but I'm still Mr Stark?" The man calls after the retreating boy.

"She's much scarier than you Mr Stark, I had no choice."

Tony laughs softly but one look at Pepper halts that.

"How could you not tell him that room was his Tony? Have you been in it recently? It doesn't look like anyone lives there. I don't care what you and the boy have planned we are all going shopping tomorrow for his room, no arguments. No wonder he questions his place in your life you haven't given him solid proof he is here for the long run!"

Suitably cowed Tony nods face full of realisation as her words sink in, how could I have overlooked that? I'm such an idiot.

When Peter enters the large kitchen he immediately takes his usual seat to the left of Tony and lets Pepper serve him. After the first time they ate together she has insisted herself or Tony would serve him as he apparently didn't put enough on his plate for a growing, teenage spider. To be fair what he did serve himself was the amount he had at home, it maybe wasn't enough but it was okay, it was all they had.

He enjoys these dinners, at home he often has to eat alone because of May's shifts and his Spiderman patrols but Tony insists they sit down when he visits the tower and eat together. It was a time they spent discussing what was happening in their lives and joking around, he loved it.

Tony loved these dinners, as a child Howard rarely ate with Tony, his mother did more frequently but even that was only once or twice a month, he resented them for that, they may have been busy people but what was half an hour in the evening to eat as a family? He would be damned if Peter felt like that, he knew he didn't always eat with May and he wanted the boy to experience family dinners at least once a week. Theres that word again he thought…family, he had been using it a lot, at least in his head when around Peter and Pepper.

"We are going shopping tomorrow Peter for your bedroom is there anything in particular you want?" Pepper asks lightly as if this was an everyday sort of question.

"You don't have to Pepper, it's really no problem I don't need anything. You don't need to spend money on me."

"Peter we don't have to, we want to okay, I should have done this months ago, you've started staying over here up to three or four nights a week, you deserve a room just for you." Tony assures him, looking him in the eye.

Blushing Peter looks down at his plate, nodding. The table fell into silence, not an uncomfortable one however just one where no one really had anything left to say as they all finished off their meals, Tony continuously filling Peter's plate until he had eaten three servings.

Once they were all finished Pepper stood and started collecting the plates…this was another rule implemented by Tony after eating together they all wash up together and no leaving the table until everyone is finished. They quickly settled into their normal rhythm and the dishes were washed by Tony, dried by Peter and put away by Pepper.

"I would much prefer to stay here with you two but I want to come shopping with you tomorrow so I need to go and do some work. Make sure you're in bed at a decent time, and I mean both of you." She says "I want to be out of here by ten boys."

She doesn't wait for their responses knowing they know better than to try and argue when she states things like that. Grinning to herself she leaves for her own office which is just three floors down calling on F.R.I.D.A.Y. to tell her to stop working at midnight.

Peter flops back down onto the couch after retrieving his phone smiling as Tony does the same. He leaves Tony to choose what they're watching, it was pointless trying to choose himself, the man would change the channel if anything contained too much swearing or sex scenes. He had tried to argue once before that most teens were able to watch those sort of things but Tony shot him down telling him in his penthouse he would not be one of those teens. It was infuriating, he didn't watch much TV at home, it put up the electric bill too much so he had to go to Ned's to catch up on Game of Thrones. He grinned as Tony put on Star Wars Episode IV, he knew the man wasn't a huge fan and that made it even better.

Tony smiled fondly sensing Peter's glee, he knew how much the kid loved Star Wars and the boy had been complaining he hadn't had time to watch it in a while just last week.

Twenty minutes into the film Peter turned to the billionaire, "Mr Stark…"

"Tony" the man interrupted.

"Tony….you don't have to buy me anything just because Pepper says so, I don't mind. You do enough for me as it is letting me stay over and giving me dinner all the time."

"Peter I'll only say this once more, we want to do this for you. You aren't a burden on us, we enjoy having you here and want to show you by giving you your own room. We should have done it months ago, it just took Pepper to make me realise and I'm sorry about that."

The boy opens his mouth to argue again but a raised hand from Tony stops him. "No more Pete" he says as moves over slightly throwing his arm around Peter pulling him close so the boy can rest his head against his shoulder.

Two hours later Pepper comes back up from her office and opens her mouth to scold the two when she sees their movie is still on at half past midnight but hearing a light snoring from her fiancé she swallows her words.

"Have you snapped a photo F.R.I.D.A.Y?"

"Of course" the AI responds.

Smiling softly Pepper tiptoes across the room and shakes Tony awake, he blearily looks up at her confused for a moment before he senses the weight on his shoulder and warm breaths against his chest. Without prompting he lifts the teen up like a young child and follows Pepper to Peter's room delicately placing him into the bed as Pepper pulls back the duvet.

Pepper watches with a smile as Tony puts the boy in bed and tucks him in before pressing a light kiss to his forehead and stepping back throwing his arm around her waist. She leans over and pecks him on the lips before stepping forward and copying Tony's actions from before.

The two stand and watch Peter for a moment, both thinking how young he looks in the oversized bed before turning and leaving for their own.


	5. Shopping

**AN: Thanks for all the reviews it really means a lot to me, I just wanted to say I am British so don't actually know anything about shopping in the US so just avoided store names altogether. Thanks.**

 **Empty Fridges**

Peter's sleep was interrupted by an insistent beeping courtesy of F.R.I.D.A.Y. He had decided after the first time he stayed over he hated the AI first thing in the morning. At home he would just snooze his alarm and would eventually be woken by May but at the tower there was no snooze option.

"I'm up, Fri. I'm up" he groaned running his hand through his unruly hair as he swung his legs out of bed. He knew that would make no difference to the beeping though as the alarm was programmed to continue until he pressed his finger on a touchpad on the opposite side of the room. Cursing under his breath he dragged himself across the room hitting the panel with more force than was probably necessary. Looking across his room to the giant clock on the wall he wondered why exactly he had been awoken at eight thirty in the morning, on a Sunday no less! Suddenly the night before came rushing back to him. I don't need anything! He thought to himself sourly as he contemplated simply going back to bed.

Tony had been waiting in the kitchen for the last ten minutes for Peter to come through for breakfast. He had heard his alarm go off and the boy hitting the panel with enough force to smash glass if it hadn't been specially reinforced, what could he possibly be doing? If he had gone back to sleep after being specifically told they were to be leaving at ten he was going to kill the kid.

"Peter, you better be up" he called, "if you aren't in here in the next five minutes I'll be buying you iron man bed sheets."

"Coming" Peter almost shouted, Tony could hear the boy scrambling across his room.

Peter came into the kitchen giving Tony a half-hearted glare for his threat and slumped down at the table after grabbing himself some cereal. The two ate their breakfasts in comfortable silence both still in their pyjamas, Peter in some Hello Kitty bottoms and a t-shirt Tony had bought him to walk home in after he got grounded from his suit one time. Tony somehow managed to look cool in anything he wore though and was pulling off his Iron Man pyjama pants rather well.

Peter stood to rinse his bowl in the sink but was met with a raised eyebrow from Tony as soon as his bum left his seat. "You better not be about to wash that after only one bowl Peter. You know you need to eat something else or you'll be hungry again in an hour."

Tony watched with a smirk as the boy slumped back down into his seat sighing as he poured himself a second bowl of cornflakes. The older man was just having the last sip of his coffee when Pepper walked in already dressed for the day.

"Right you two, I want you dressed and ready to go in half an hour, I've got us a reservation for dinner so wear a good shirt, we can grab something as we go for lunch. Sound good?"

Both men knew there was no question there. Peter nodding thinking furiously on what to wear as he went back to the guest bedroom….his bedroom sorry. He opened his wardrobe to have a look at what to wear but a quick look in the mirror at his slightly greasy hair led him into his ensuite.

He loved the bathroom in his room, it was the coolest bathroom he had ever used to be honest and he tried to shower at the tower every Sunday anyway so he wouldn't have to at home. May and him swapped who showered first every day because they wouldn't afford the hot water for two showers so one of them had to have a quick cold wash.

Ten minutes later Peter had washed his hair and dried off so was now standing looking at his clothes in despair. Deciding he didn't really have a choice he threw on his nicest t-shirt and his least frayed pair of jeans with his usual ratty trainers.

When Peter walked into the room Tony stood immediately anger coming forward. "Peter I don't know what you are trying to do but turn yourself straight back around and get dressed properly, Pepper told you we have dinner reservations." He watches as the boy blushes looking at his shoes as he shifts foot to foot mumbling something. "What was that Peter?"

"I don't have anything nicer" the boy repeats eyes still glued to the floor.

Tony runs a hand through his hair sighing, "right well we will stop at your apartment and grab something from there on the way, I'll tell Pepper." He notices Peter still looks uncomfortable and it suddenly hits him. "Do you have anything suitable at home Peter?" he questions all traces of anger gone. His heart breaks a little as the boy does a sort of half shrug and he sees a tear run down his cheek.

Peter is surprised when Tony pulls him forward into his chest, "ssshh it's okay Peter, don't worry we will get you some clothes while we are out."

Blushing furiously Peter steps back "no! You don't need to get me anything, its fine Mr Stark really!"

"Peter we aren't arguing on this, I want to buy you new clothes, it's my responsibility. Don't worry about it."

Pulling himself together the boy nods unhappily feeling guilty Mr Stark is buying him yet another thing.

Pepper enters the room taking in Tony dressed in a slightly more casual suit than usual while Peter…while Peter looks like his clothes are as old as he is. She opens her mouth to tell him to go and change but a frantic shake of the head from Tony stops her. Sighing she beckons the boy forward and combs his hair with her fingers instead trying to get it into something resembling tidy.

Peter stares out the window as he sits in the back of one of Tony's larger cars, larger as in it actually has seats in the back. He hardly pays attention as Tony and Pepper talk in the front seats about which shops to go to.

Much sooner than he would have liked the car comes to a stop in a private parking garage and he follows Pepper and Tony out of the car. He walks between them as Tony steers them towards a furniture store.

"Peter what do you want for your bedroom?" Pepper asks smiling down at him.

"Ummm I don't know just whatever…I guess…I really don't mind…"

"Yeah so clear underoos." Tony snorts. "Right we need a new desk, chair, sofa, bedside tables, bed and wardrobe"

"Woah, woah no!" Peter yelps "I don't need all that! I don't need a different bed!"

"Peter," Pepper says soothingly as she looks into his eyes, "wouldn't it be nice to have a room you actually love though than a room you just think is okay? And the bed what if you have someone stay over…"

"Ummm no he isn't dating until he is at least thirty Pepper! No just no!" Tony interrupts.

Laughing lightly at the blushing Peter and outraged Tony she continues "I meant for Ned. At home you have the bunk bed, how about a bed with a pull out bed for him to sleep on?"

Nodding Peter allows himself to be pulled over to look at beds and quickly chooses one he likes and simply decides to also get the matching bedside tables. After an hour or so he genuinely starts to enjoy himself once the furniture has all be chosen and organised to be delivered to the tower because they move onto more casual things. Pepper leaves them both so they can choose duvet covers and posters while she goes to collect various miscellaneous items such as a washing basket and waste paper bin.

Tony looks at Peter seeing how overwhelmed he is at the sheer number of duvet options and takes pity on the kid. "Do you just want a pattern Peter? Or how about something themed...ooh look Iron Man, how about that?"

"How about no." Peter deadpans looking at his mentor unimpressed. "A pattern is good, it's calming"

Nodding Tony begins to look through their options "well the curtains you chose were blue with white circles so how about something similar?"

Grinning Peter quickly selects a set and throws them into the cart before they continue onto the posters section where he chooses two science related ones and three star wars ones.

Tony watches on fondly as Peter seems to forget about money for a moment and just choose things he likes for his bedroom. He can't help but feel guilty for not doing this months ago but swears to himself he will have it all set up for Peter by next weekend, he'll even paint…well hire someone to paint. He also make a quick note on his phone to arrange for some of the new stark tech to be set up in his room, the kid deserved an entertainment centre, and he would buy him a games console too.

An hour later they meet up with Pepper again and Tony swipes his card to pay for the mountain of items they purchased before they head to the food court for a quick bite to eat for lunch.

Peter's stomach clenches as he stands in the fanciest clothes shop he has ever set foot in, he feels very out of place in his scruffy clothes and is currently being eyeballed by the security guard as if he might try to make a run for it with some fancy jeans.

He looks over at Tony who looks like he couldn't be more at ease as he talks to one of the women that work there gesturing wildly as he does.

Tony looks over at Peter, who looks vulnerable and nervous stood by himself so he quickly wraps up his conversation as he organises for a new suit for himself to be ready to be collected by Happy tomorrow. Walking over to Peter he wraps an arm around his shoulder. "Right then Pete let's start with underwear. Boxers or briefs?" He says casually laughing lightly as they boy turns as red as one of his iron man suits.

Four torturous hours later they finally leave the last clothing shop and Peter has been forced to change for dinner. He grins catching himself in the mirror dressed similarly to Tony in dress pants and a shirt.

Pepper smiles warmly at the pair walking slightly ahead of her. They look like father and son she thinks to herself as she watches Tony throw a casual arm over the boys shoulder as they chat.


	6. Money Troubles

Peter was worried about May. She had been working extra shifts for the last several months but in recent weeks she was working seven days a week. He had noticed money was tight several months after Ben died, how could he not? With one less wage coming in their income fell considerably. When Ben was alive they struggled sometimes but struggling then just meant they didn't go out for an ice cream or on a day trip for a few months…struggling now was much different. Struggling now was them trying not to turn lights on unless it was essential, taking two minute showers and he didn't remember the last time the TV was on in the apartment. But it was getting worse, they had never had issues getting food on the table before but now it was a totally different story.

Peter never told Mr Stark or Pepper how difficult things had become and he knew May hadn't either. Although he was sure she would swallow her pride had she been aware of his increased metabolism, he had kept that piece of information from her to stop her worrying even more, as it was she often skipped dinner to make sure Peter ate. He hated it. He had taken to pretending to have had dinner while on patrol, he would claim someone gave him a burger in thanks or an old lady bought him a sandwich just so May would eat dinner. They planned their meals for the week when he got back from the tower on Sunday nights. May knew he ate at Tony's on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays so that eased the pressure somewhat.

As they sat planning for the week ahead he turned to May nervously, "Aunt May…I think perhaps it's time I got a job after school or something"

Her sigh and murmur of agreement made him realise just how desperate they had become, he had suggested the idea not long after Ben died but she told him to focus on his studies, clearly things had changed.

"I'll start looking tomorrow" he promised.

Monday turned to Tuesday which turned to Wednesday and he still had no job to call his own, not for lack of trying though. He had heard back from one small shop who said they would be willing to take him on two evenings a week and all day Saturday, he had a week to respond. He knew he would have to accept, he had no choice, he would have to just bite the bullet and tell Tony he wouldn't be able to come round on Saturdays anymore. His room was only decorated a few weeks ago and this was the thanks he was giving the man he thought to himself ashamed.

Tony was worried about Peter. The kid had arrived an hour ago, wolfed down some cookies and chips like a starving man and hardly said anything but a mumbled thanks. He looked across the lab at the boy who was chewing nervously on his lip. Tony knew that look, he had seen it several times before when Peter wanted to tell him something but was worried he would get in trouble. He knew the boy would tell him sooner rather than later so continued his tinkering.

Three hours later they had eaten dinner with Pepper and were now relaxing in front of the TV and Peter still hadn't shared. He would give him another half an hour he thought to himself.

Twenty five minutes later Peter turned to his mentor looking upset. "Umm…Mr Stark…Tony….I'm really sorry but I won't be able to come over on the weekends anymore" he stuttered.

Woah, woah, not what I was expecting, Tony thought to himself. He turned to look at the boy slightly hurt "Do you not like coming here anymore Peter?" he asked.

"NO!" Peter almost shouted back, "It isn't that, not at all, it's just…I need to find a job, money is tight and the one I found wants me to work Saturdays"

Relieved Tony relaxed back into the sofa "Peter there's no need for that I can just give you and May some money, how much do you need?"

"No Mr Stark! No! We won't accept charity." The boy insisted.

"How about you work for me then?" He asked, "You could become a proper intern, I'll speak to Pepper and May and get it set up"

"You can't just give me an internship Tony!" Peter said scandalised.

"Pete…I'm not giving it to you, you've earnt it, you're the brightest kid I know" Realising the kid still looks unsure he continues "okay…how about you do a trial, this weekend come and try out I'll have someone watch over you and they can decide if you become an intern, okay?"

Looking more comfortable Peter nods gratefully "thank you Tony, I'll be there"

Grinning Tony ruffles Peter's hair, "good man, right it looks like it's time for you to go Happy is downstairs, I'll send you the details, see you Saturday kid"

Grinning Peter waves as he leaves a bounce in his step as if a huge weight has been lifted off his shoulders.

As soon as Peter leaves the room however Tony's smile vanishes and is replaced with a worried frown. Suddenly Peter's strange behaviour was making sense to him, that time he claimed to have forgotten to eat after fainting during training, his thinning figure despite the boys assurances he was fine and his insistence of showering at the tower before going home. He immediately grabbed his Starkpad and began composing an email to his head of research and development. He knew Peter was smart enough for an internship but he was sure Gregor would kick up a fuss about some random kid coming in, hence the trial thing, he was certain Peter would have the man eating out the palm of his hand within an hour. He certainly had himself doing so he thought ruefully.

Saturday came both too soon and not soon enough for Peter, Tony had called him the evening before telling him he would be collected from his apartment at half past seven. May had already left for work so the boy was alone standing in front of his bedroom mirror desperately trying to tame his flyaway hair. When his phone pinged he grabbed his backpack and with a last look to make sure his tie was straight left the apartment.

Tony had to admit it was rare for him to be awake at half seven in the morning but for Peter he was happy to, he had decided to collect the boy himself for his first day and planned to stop so they could have breakfast beforehand. When the passenger door opened he looked at the boy grinning as the kids jaw dropped, he was clearly expecting Happy.

"Mr Stark! What are you doing here?"

"Am I not allowed to take my favourite intern in for his first day?"

"I'm not an intern, I'm on a trial Tony" The boy muttered.

Tony ignored his comment entirely and headed towards his favourite breakfast place.

Peter was nervous, he mechanically ate the giant breakfast Tony had ordered for him but he could hardly taste it. Before he could stop it his worries came tumbling out his mouth. "What will I be doing? What if they don't like me? Will I still be able to come over if I don't get the internship?"

"You'll be fine Peter, I promise. You'll be helping in the labs, talking science that sort of thing. How could they not like you underoos? You're great, you're smart, you're thoughtful, funny. They'll love you Pete." Tony assures the boy "and if you don't get it? Which by the way you will of course you are welcome at the tower, even if I have to drag you round every Wednesday for the rest of your life kiddo."

The tension leaves Peter's shoulders as he exhales relieved. "Okay, I got this. It's cool I can do this" he mutters to himself. Looking up at his mentor he asks the question he has been thinking about ever since Tony brought up the idea "Tony you won't force them to take me on will you? I want to earn this or get rejected for me. I don't want to be taken on because you made them."

"Pete…I don't get to choose if you are employed okay? And I promise not to interfere, I'll stay away all day, but you have to be up in the penthouse for dinner okay? It's still Saturday and lasagne is on the menu."

Peter nods a grin spreading across his face as they pull up around the corner from the tower. Both men step out of the car and Tony walks round to look at Peter. "Good luck kid, you've got this, don't stress" he says as he moves his fingers through the boy's hair.

"Toooony" Peter whines, "I just got it tidy"

"That hair will never be tidy Pete, it's fine you look cute they'll love you"

With that Peter turns away squaring his shoulders as he leaves shouting back at the older man that he isn't cute.

Tony watches him go knowing he will be going upstairs to watch a live link of Peter's first day.


	7. The Internship

Gregor stood in the main foyer of Stark Tower waiting for the new intern. He had no idea why Tony had forced him to take him on let alone lie to the boy! The teen thought he was on a trial but he was under strict instructions to take him on in some capacity regardless if he was just to be making coffee. How have I been left babysitting some snot nosed kid? He thought to himself trying to keep up his calm façade as he eyed those coming into the building. That must be him, he realised as he saw a young man around fourteen or fifteen entering the building looking nervous. Well at least he dressed for the occasion, his hair could have been tidier but he supposed the more doting types in his labs would love it.

Peter started when a tall man in a lab coat shouted his name, steeling himself he promptly met him with a firm handshake and a smile introducing himself. "But of course you already know I'm Peter, you just said my name…sorry…I'm rambling Tony says I do that a lot"

Gregor bites back a laugh, storing the titbit about Tony away, clearly this isn't just some random kid. He leads Peter towards an elevator briefly explaining where most the labs are located, he opens his mouth to give his access code for the elevator and is promptly taken aback when the boy starts a tongue twister. "emmm…kid what are you…?" he starts but is shocked into silence when they begin to ascend.

Peter looks down blushing, "sorry habit, I won't do it again" he mutters.

Laughing softly the older man looks down at him "it's fine kid, unexpected but fine, plus I try to avoid using my own where possible I just didn't expect you to have one"

Unsure what to respond to that Peter just nods trying not to fidget too much and follows the man out as the reach the eighty fifth floor.

"Well I don't really know where to put you yet so I want you to sit here for the next three and a half hours and work through these workbooks okay? I don't expect you to finish they get progressively harder so you'll probably get stuck before I'm back anyway. Once we have the results I'll know where to put you."

Peter nods and settles himself down at a table in the small conference room he had been led to, he takes a pen out of his backpack and thanks Gregor as he gives him a stack of booklets and quickly starts to flick through them. The first appears to just be chemistry so he gets to work quickly confident in his abilities. He breezes through the first several pages of questions to test his knowledge and makes easy work of the equations that follow, about two thirds of the way through the workbook he begins to run into problems and sets it aside to come back to. He follows the same process with the biology and physics books but sighs to himself when he begins struggling slightly earlier than he had in the chemistry booklet.

I know chemistry is my best subject of the three through, it's fine. He tells himself trying not to put himself off with negative thoughts. By this time two hours have passed and he reaches over to the final book titled coding, robotics and technology grinning to himself he snatches it up.

Gregor is surprised when he returns to the room after the allotted time is up to see Peter not looking upset in any way, nervous sure but not upset. He has given these books to prospective interns hundreds of times and a good third of them are either close to tears or already crying by the time he collects them, Peter is the youngest by far to have done this so he's shocked he looks okay. He collects up the workbooks and leads Peter up several floors so he can have lunch with the other interns. On the way he stops by four different labs dropping off the books for marking so he can decide what to do with the boy after lunch.

Peter gapes as he is led to the intern's casual floor, it looks a little like he imagines a college social room might in dorms. He is told to grab a seat and help himself to food so does so with relish taking several slices of pizza for himself and a huge pile of fries. He had been there mere seconds when a group of six young adults wander in all chatting.

"Hey, kid. Are you lost?" One of the girls ask slightly confused, she had never seen anyone younger than twenty one in here and this kid looks like he had just hit puberty.

"Ummm…no…Gregor took me here told me to help myself then left, said he'd be back after lunch"

Shrugging and deciding not to question his presence any more the college students include him in polite conversation as they help themselves to food.

Half an hour later Peter is feeling slightly more relaxed amongst the others, they all shared their own experiences of the workbooks and told him how surprised they were he was given them, most of their content was college level after all. That came as quite a surprise to him, sure they got quite difficult but the first half or so of each one he could manage easily. Conversation had quickly become much more relaxed however and he found himself debating which Italian Restaurant was the best in New York. Peter jumped a foot in the air when a very familiar voice sounded from the door "Romano's is the best, no competition."

Tony grins, he just couldn't help himself, he wanted to see the kid. Gregor had called him not five minutes ago saying Peter was some sort of tech genius. Well duh…he already knew that, as if his kid…..the kid…the kid…he had to stop doing that, wouldn't be a genius. The six interns gaped at him, he supposed it made sense they only saw him occasionally maybe once a month or so, he did make sure to meet each of them personally every few months but that was it.

"Mr Stark…what…" Chloe gaped, unable to form a coherent sentence in surprise, the pizza halfway to her mouth forgotten.

Smiling Tony wandered in helping himself to a slice and flopped down next to Peter, "Don't mind me, just pretend I'm not here."

Soon conversation gets going again amongst the students, but Chloe quirks an eyebrow when she hears the young boy, Peter's, words. "I thought you were going to leave me alone? I'm meant to be doing this myself."

Peter blushed as Tony simply laughed at him and ruffled his hair once again. "Toooony" he whined sounded much younger than his actual age. Seconds later he heard the clicking of heels against the hardwood floor of the corridor and turned to see Tony pale.

The interns had all met Pepper Potts before and knew she wasn't a woman to cross. But on the occasions they had met her she had been the height of professionalism and easy to get along with, but this Pepper Potts was terrifying, she stood at the entrance of their lounge hands on her hips furious. "Tony you are supposed to be in a meeting, like right now! You promised not to skip this one, you promised me" They all turned to see Tony Stark, actual Iron Man! Go white as he frantically tried to appease his fiancée but found himself being dragged out the room seconds later regardless. The interns were all left in a stunned silence for several minutes struggling to compute what had just occurred.

Moments later Gregor made his way to go collect Peter and was taken aback when he was met with a room of silent interns looking somewhat shell-shocked apart from Peter. Deciding it probably wasn't life threatening he just left it and beckoned Peter to follow him, jumping up the boy did as he was bid with a muttered goodbye to the still gaping students.

Peter's nerves had returned ten-fold by the time they reached the small room from before. He slid himself into the same seat as before as Gregor took the one opposite his workbooks in hand.

"So Peter. I've had these all looked over and it's clear although you know a fair bit about biology and physics it's not really for you, you know much more than the average high school student but your chemistry is well into the second year of college level despite a few gaps, we can work with that."

Peter nodded thrilled, he appeared to have done it! He had earned himself an internship.

"Your tech work though, I got that cross marked to ensure there wasn't mistakes in the marking. Peter, you could probably get a job with your knowledge in plenty of companies. Your robotics and tech work is amazing, it's the highest score we've ever had on the test and you're the youngest by several years to take it!"

Blushing again Peter looked down unsure what to say.

"So I've spoken to Mr Stark and you've got the internship, consider the trial over, you've passed. We expect you here, Tuesday and Thursday evenings and Saturday morning, that okay? You will work under Dr Stephens he heads the tech labs, we will also put you up with Dr Youngson in chemistry from time to time."

A smile split across Peter's face as his words sunk in. "Thank you, sir!"

"You've earned it kid" Gregor smiled. "No time like the present and all that, you're here until five so may as well get you introduced to the rest of the team. We also need to sort out your pay and fill in some paperwork and you're ready to start."

Peter's grin stretched from ear to ear as he nodded and followed the older man from the room, a bounce in his step.

He didn't know it but his grin was mirrored on Tony's face who was watching the entire exchange in the penthouse on the lounge TV.


	8. A Dinner Guest

Peter loved the freedom of being Spiderman, it was a 'home' weekend so he was free to do as he chose all afternoon, so he had of course devoted his Saturday to swinging around Queens. He finished in the Stark labs at lunchtime on Saturdays and if he didn't have plans with Mr Stark he tended to immediately change and start patrolling.

 _Ping_

He quickly stopped his lazy swings and landed gracefully on a rooftop so he could answer his phone. Mr Stark got a bit testy if he didn't answer within a minute or two without good reason and after being grounded from patrolling for ignoring three calls from him because he was having too much fun showing off to pedestrian's front flipping while swinging between buildings he always made sure to answer as quickly as possible.

 _I have a friend coming over for dinner I want you to meet. Come over I've already cleared it with May she says you're to stay here tonight. Be here for six, don't be late. Keep safe underoos._

Grinning Peter fired back a quick response assuring him he would be on time. He wondered who was coming for dinner, Tony called them a friend so it probably wasn't someone in Stark Industries, he had been to dinner with the head of HR once, it was awful. Soooo boring, he had thankfully been excused as soon as he had eaten dessert by Tony, ugh surely he wouldn't have to go through that again, that man could put anyone to sleep. A scream in the distance pulled him from his musings and he swung in it's direction to offer his help.

"Karen, what've you got?"

ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ

Peter was late. He had told the kid six and he had promised he would be on time. He asked him to do one thing! Terror quickly overtook Tony as he realised the boy hadn't sent a text since the last one hours before, oh god…maybe he was hurt. The man stood and began to pace nervously running a hand through his hair. "Pepper have you heard from Peter recently? He's late and hasn't sent me a text."

Pepper walked into the room hairbrush in hand clearly halfway through getting ready. "Not today no" she replied Tony's fear quickly affecting herself. She watched her fiancé turn impossibly paler and rushed over placing a calming hand on his chest, "Tony, Tony…look at me, take a breath, I'm sure he is fine it's only just six now let's give him until quarter past and if he isn't here by then you can track him."

"Pepper! Anything could happen in fifteen minutes, what if…"

"Tony, we both know you have hundreds of protocols on that suit, Friday alerts you when Peter skins his knee, he is fine, you would know immediately if anything happened to him! Just sit down and take a breath. He's a teenager, he's probably just forgotten or something."

Dammit! Peter thought to himself as he swung as quickly as he could towards the tower, he had fallen asleep on a rooftop and woken at a minute to six. Tony was going to kill him. He dropped down into an alley around the corner from the tower and quickly changed into the clothes he had hidden there, Tony had told him to avoid being seen entering the tower too often as Spiderman especially now more people knew him out of the costume, he didn't want anyone to make a connection between the vigilante and young intern who often headed to the penthouse. He was probably already in trouble for being late, he didn't want to get himself in even more.

Throwing his suit into his backpack he sprinted round the corner dodging round people with muttered apologies as he raced towards the tower. Deciding the front entrance was probably quicker he raced in giving brief waves to the people who called out greetings but not slowing down in the slightest.

Colonel James Rhodes stood just inside the entrance of Stark Tower, he wasn't required to use the public entrance of course but he was early so decided to, he liked to just sit and watch people go about their lives. He had been chatting to Happy and Gregor for several minutes when someone sprinted past them. He turned to follow them with his eyes curious as to why no one seemed to be stopping the person…wait teenager? That was certainly no adult. He turned back to Gregor shocked when he heard him shout out to the boy "late again junior?"

"I prefer to call it a slightly mistimed arrival" The boy shot back still running as if his life depended on it, responding to the odd greeting as he headed towards the elevator. Rhodey positively gaped as the notoriously stiff Happy let out a snort, "he's not gonna be pleased with him that's the second time this month" Gregor nodded in agreement with a wry smile of his own.

"Sorry who is that child? Am I missing something? Who won't be pleased?" Rhodey asked somewhat impatiently as the elevator doors closed taking the boy from view.

"You know what, I'd head up now James" Gregor told him still smiling, "I'm sure Tony will be able to tell you, I really must get going anyway" he continued with a glance at his watch. Rhodey watched the two wander away leaving him alone still confused with everyone's relaxed attitude over the boy but looking at his own watch decided it was probably a reasonable time to head up to the penthouse anyway. Tony would be able to clear whatever this was up.

When the elevator reached the penthouse Rhodeys mouth fell open and he had to double check he had actually come to the correct floor. He stood frozen because there in the lounge was Tony and the kid, arguing.

"Peter. No, you have no excuse, you should have gone home or come here if you were tired…"

"But…"

"Sorry did you just try to interrupt me? No…you don't get to do that, the adult is talking. You could have at least set an alarm so you would be here on time. You promised me! You young man are grounded for a week, and the dishes are all yours tonight."

Rhodey watched the young man open his mouth to sass back then clearly think better of it in the face of Tony's raised eyebrow. God that was intimidating, who knew a single eyebrow could be so scary?

With a sigh Tony opened his arms and the boy fell into them for a brief hug with a muttered apology. He watched as his friend smiled and propelled the boy towards the guest room "have a quick shower, Pepper has laid some clothes out, I want you back here in ten Pete."

Tony turned running his hand through his hair again as he took a deep breath relaxing now he could see the kid was safe and sound. He jumped almost a foot when he saw Rhodey standing in the elevator mouth wide open staring at him.

"Are you broken Honey-Bear?"

Rhodey came back to himself with a start "Who…What…."

Seeming to grasp what he was asking Tony gestured for him to take a seat and started talking. "That's Peter, Peter Parker, my…um… protégé? I really wanted him to meet you, it wasn't really the first impression I was going for to be honest. He's a great kid, smart, kind…"

Rhodey took a second to register what Tony was saying, "so you are what to him?"

"His mentor" Tony replied quickly to be met with a snort from Rhodey and muttered "right"

"Hey what does that mean?" The younger man squawked indignantly.

Rhodey was saved from answering however with the entrance of Pepper who greeted him with a friendly hug and praise on his new bionics. Talk quickly turned to his new legs but he couldn't help but notice Tony checking his watch every now and again, clearly timing the kid. How did I miss Tony becoming such a dad?

Pepper watched her fiancé from the corner of her eye. "Tony go and check on the lasagne would you? And get Peter." She smiled fondly as he jumped up to do as she bid then turned her full attention to Rhodey. "Sorry he's a bit jumpy when Peter is involved, we're hoping he'll calm down a bit soon, he doesn't even realise it half the time."

Seconds later Tony re-enters the room his hand on the kid's…Peter's shoulder. "So this is who I wanted you to meet, had you actually been on time you would already know but…" At this the boy looked down blushing slightly. Deciding to save him from further embarrassment Rhodey stood up extending a hand.

"Hey Peter, I'm James Rhodes, you can call me Uncle Rhodey." Three heads snap up to stare at him at his words and he grins. "I won't answer to anything else kid." The boy raises his eyes to look at Tony and is met with a shrug.

"Once his mind is made up there's no changing it underoos."

Smiling nervously Peter reaches out to grip Rhodey's hand…Uncle Rhodey's hand. Oh my god…this was War Machine. He opens his mouth to start peppering him with questions but is quickly stopped by Pepper telling him to leave the interrogation until they are at least sat at the table. Peter drops into his usual seat and waits as Pepper serves herself. He is about to reach out to take some for himself when his plate is taken from him.

"Sorry underoos, I don't remember that rule changing" Tony scolds lightly as he dishes up the boy's meal. Blushing he looks down and digs in silently. How could Tony do that to him, in front of War Machine…so uncool!

Rhodey looks at the boy sensing exactly what he is thinking and seeks to reassure him. "No need to be embarrassed Peter, I dished up Tony's meals right through college I even had to feed him once" He grins as the boy forgets his embarrassment immediately and turns to look at a now blushing Tony.

"Playtpusss…not in front of the kid. He still thinks I'm cool. Don't make me revoke uncle status" He whines.

Pepper laughs lightly, "Tony you are so far from cool."

"Ugh, my own family" Tony sighs dramatically acting wounded "how could you betray me so?"

Conversation flowed freely after that with Rhodey's question of what college Peter wanted to go to being met with a "I don't know" from the boy and "MIT, he's going to MIT" from Tony. After dinner Rhodey insisted he help the boy with the dishes "if I'm to be your cool uncle may as well start now, eh kid?" he said with a wink.

Several hours later Tony had sent the kid half-asleep off to bed assuring him his uncle would still be there in the morning.

"Being a dad looks good on you, never would have expected it but well done Tones."

"He's not…we're not…I'm not…" Tony tried but a raised eyebrow from his friend made him stop and just give a sincere thanks.


	9. A Big Question

Tony was nervous. He had received a text from May that very morning and hadn't been able to get it out of his head.

 _I need to talk to you, preferably when Peter is at his internship or school. When suits you? –May_

Yeah. Not a text he wanted to receive. He had immediately cancelled the three meetings he had that morning and made his way to Peter and May's apartment. He knocked twice on the door and took a step back waiting. Did she change her mind about Spiderman? Was Peter in some kind of trouble? Oh god, did she think he was a bad influence on Peter? Was she going to stop him seeing the kid?

May opened the door to an almost hyperventilating Tony Stark, not the way she saw her morning going to be honest. "Tony. Tony look at me, are you okay?...TONY!"

The man jumps the dazed look in his eyes suddenly disappearing as he comes back to himself. "Sorry, sorry. I'm fine" he says blushing.

May stifles a snort but steps aside so he can enter the apartment. "Coffee?"

"Black please"

Tony perches on the edge of the sofa his leg bouncing slightly with nerves. His eyes comb over the photos of Peter spread throughout the room, as they do every time he visits. God, he wishes he could have seen Peter grow up, he was such a cute kid. Not that he isn't still cute, because duh…he is…Pete would deny it but he is definitely cute. Moments later he is roused from his thoughts by a mug being pushed into his hands. Before he even realises he's talking he blurts out his greatest fear "please don't make me stop seeing Peter, please May, I can't." he practically begs.

May rears back as if he had slapped her. "Woah, no, no. Is this why you are acting so strange? No Tony it's nothing of the kind, the complete opposite actually." She watches as he seems to slump down in relief and slides himself back onto the sofa fully resting against the back.

"Tony" May murmurs, "Peter adores you, I would never stop you from seeing him, what you've done for him…heck what you've done for us is amazing. After Ben died, Peter changed he became quiet, withdrawn, sullen, he wouldn't speak to me about anything, but then you came into our lives." She looks away from him unable to retain eye contact and instead stares at an old school photo of Peter on the side table. "since Peter met you I have been seeing the boy I raised, he is more confident in himself, he smiles all the time. I could never take that away from him Tony. That boy loves you. He has always looked up to Iron Man but now he looks up to you Tony. The man…" May tears her eyes from Peter's photo and refocuses on the billionaire at the other end of the sofa. She reaches out a hand wiping away the tear falling down his cheek with a watery smile of her own.

"Thank you." Tony is unable to get out anything more, but he knows he doesn't need to.

After several minutes of silence and reflection from both of them Tony breaks it with a small laugh. "May, I hope you didn't invite me round just to cry and drink coffee." He looks over at her, she is silent for another moment clearly trying to find the words.

"I want to put you down as a secondary guardian for Peter"

Tony feels his jaw drop and knows his eyes are probably embarrassingly wide. "Sorry, can you say that again?" he gasps.

"Tony, he needs a male role-model in his life, you are already his guardian in every way but on paper."

"Why me? Why not someone else?"

"Tony" she sighs exasperated. "You are Peter's idol, his eyes light up when you walk into the room, he talks about you all the time, you must know how he looks up to you. And you…Tony. I know how you feel about him. He may not have realised yet and you may not have admitted it to yourself it but everyone around you knows. Think about it…James Rhodes, your brother in all but blood declared himself Peter's uncle within minutes. Does that not tell you something? Especially when the boy accepted it without issue."

Tony blushes, he had of course known what Rhodey was implying when he came for dinner. But he had to admit he was surprised when he followed through, he kept correcting the boy until he called him uncle Rhodey without a thought. Pepper always commented on his actions around Peter too, called him a helicopter parent every time he brought up the kids location while he was patrolling or that time she called him a soccer mom when he wouldn't let Peter leave the table until he had eaten all his broccoli. He was sure May was aware of the whole Junior thing as well. Half of SI had taken to calling Peter that now, he was sure Gregor had started it. He had to admit the first time he had seen Peter respond to the name a massive grin had spread across his face and even Happy's sarcastic comments couldn't get him to stop smiling.

May watched as Tony digested her words, taking in everything she had said. It was impossible not to notice the bond forming between the man and her nephew.

"Why now May? Is something wrong? Are you ill? Is this why you didn't want Peter here when I came round?" Tony asks worriedly.

May smiles raising her hand to calm him. "Nothing of the sort, no need to worry I'm perfectly healthy. It's just a backup, it'll give you more rights and Peter more security. Also I've been offered an opportunity at work, I haven't told Peter yet I wanted to ask you first, it could lead to promotion. Work are beginning to lay people off, I'm worried if I don't take this I might be next."

Tony nodded along with her "You should definitely go for it but why are you consulting me? You love your job don't let this pass you by" he knew how hard she worked, she definitely deserved a promotion, she had refused the offer of money multiple times and he knew money was still a little tight. May had insisted Peter save most of his internship money, she only accepted a fraction of it to help with the bills.

"It's in Arizona Tony…for two months, I won't be able to come home during it, I need someone to look after Peter."

That's when he realised why she was asking. She wanted him to step up and care for the kid full time…for two months. Could he do it? Peter spent half the week at the tower anyway, surely it's not too much more making it the full week? But what about school Tony never had to make sure he got to school on time that was May's department. What if something happened while he was looking after the kid?

Before he could let his thoughts spiral even more he answered. "Of course May, no problem, I'd do anything for the kid…for both of you. When do you leave?"

"Not for another three weeks, have you fully thought this through Tony? Two months is a long time, are you comfortable with this? It's okay if you don't want to, I will work something out, but this will change your relationship with him, you know this? If you commit to this you are committed forever."

"I've been committed since I first laid eyes on him." He replies sincerely looking her in the eye, "you know he's like,,,like…a.."

"Son to you." May finishes for him as his voice cracks before he can say it himself.


	10. Settling In

Peter had been told about his stay at Tony's the Saturday after the decision was made and then spent the next two weeks trying to convince may it was unnecessary. He loved the tower don't get him wrong but he did not need a babysitter. He was fifteen! He would be fine, he was already at the tower half the week anyway so what was three or four nights at the apartment. He had pleaded with May, tried to sway her with facts – he was responsible, he was tidy, he then tried promises, "I won't be any trouble May, I promise I'll look after everything". It hadn't worked, he was just given extra chores for being so unreasonable.

So it was finally the day and May's flight was in four hours. They had spent the entire day before together, they had Thai, watched movies and just hung out both knowing they wouldn't be able to for another two months. She was already packed but as a teenager he hadn't. He didn't really need to take much stuff though, he had plenty of clothes at the tower and F.R.I.D.A.Y. had access to thousands of movies. He ended up with just his backpack filled to the brim with his school supplies.

He was nervous. He had never been away from May for longer than a week, not since Ben died. He didn't know which of them was more worried.

May could practically feel the anxiety rolling off Peter as she pulled him into a tight hug. "I'm sure you'll have a great time at Tony's Peter. You always love going there. I'm only a call away remember."

Peter nodded into her chest unwilling to pull away as he gripped her tight. "You'll stay safe yeah May? Text me when you get there?"

"Of course I will baby, no need to worry. I'll text so much you'll be sick of me!" she jokes.

"Never."

They stand for a moment savouring each other's warmth before the silence is interrupted by a knock at the door. Peter pulls away and opens the door unsurprised to see Tony and Happy on the other side.

"Ready kid?"

Peter nods as he slings his bag onto one shoulder and grabs one of May's cases for her. The four of them walk down the stairs to the two cars parked outside. Happy and Tony take the bags from their hands and load the cars before each getting into one giving the Parker's a final moment to themselves.

May once again pulls Peter into a bone crushing hug holding him tight. She pulls back but keeps her hands on his shoulders forcing him to look her in the eye. "Have fun Peter, remember to call okay? No need to worry about me, I'll be home before you know it. Now, keep safe. Don't do anything dangerous, be good for Tony and Pepper and follow their rules okay? You know they can punish you just as I can. Keep your grades up."

Peter blushes furiously but nods murmuring an agreement.

"I larb you" Both say together voices cracking slightly as they turn away and step into separate cars. One headed to the airport, the other Stark Tower.

ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ

They had arrived at the tower an hour ago and Peter had gone straight to his room. Tony knew Peter was aware he was expected to be present for dinner in an hour so wasn't worried. The kid just needed time to process everything. He couldn't stop his own worries creeping up though. What if Peter really didn't want to stay here? What if it all went wrong?

Pepper had made sure to keep her evening clear on the day of Peter's arrival. She knew they would have to keep him distracted the first few nights to stop him feeling too home sick. She understood he stayed over all the time but this time was for two months and she knew the boy would be stressed, Tony too for that matter. She had invited over Rhodey for a movie night and knew Tony had plans to order in dinner. The thought of her fiancé brought a smile to her face.

When he came home three weeks ago with the news he was to be Peter's secondary guardian he had been terrified. He almost called May to get her to change her mind. She knew the man was doubting himself but she also knew he was a wonderful father to Peter. She had convinced him to sleep on it before calling May knowing perfectly well he would never abandon the boy, he had woken up the next day and immediately ordered himself parenting books.

They were hidden in the back of his wardrobe right now. Rhodey had seen one laying out and proceeded to makes jokes at Tony's expense for the next half an hour. She knew Tony had read them however as she kept finding them on her bedside table with sticky notes marking pages for her to read. Tony's nerves had quickly become excitement especially in the last week, he had been acting like more of a child than Peter. He'd been in the lab creating even more protocols to keep Peter safe, this time for within the tower itself. He had even been grocery shopping! Tony Stark went grocery shopping, admittedly it was clearly a long time since had been because he came home with ten different cereal options. "What if he doesn't like Captain Crunch though Pep!? Or what if he prefers cornflakes on Tuesdays?"

Tony felt unprepared. Logically he knew he was anything but, his kitchen cupboards and fridge were nearly overflowing, F.R.I.D.A.Y. now had five hundred and forty seven new protocols for Peter and he had read and made notes on twenty three parenting books. But had he done enough? He was startled from his musings by Pepper

"You alright there Tony? Do you think it's time we order some dinner? What does Peter want?"

"Oh ummm I don't know, should I go ask him?"

"It's fine I'll go, Rhodey is due any minute anyway"

Pepper leaves Tony seated on the sofa and makes her way to Peter's room, situated just two doors down from the master one. Knocking twice she enters when she receives a soft "come in" from Peter. He's sitting on his bed, his back to her staring into space, clearly thinking about something. A very similar position to the one she just left her fiancé in in fact. "You okay there Pete? What do you fancy for dinner?"

After a few seconds of silence she realises Peter clearly isn't listening to her so she sits herself down next to him, the bed dipping with her weight. She puts an arm around his shoulder pulling him close, smiling as he snuggles into her for comfort. "You can talk to me Pete…would you like me to get Tony? Missing May is fine, it's normal"

She waits a few moments and is about to go and get her fiancé when the boy speaks. "It's the plane, that's why I'm worried."

She stays quiet sure he will continue. She has no idea how to respond anyway, what is wrong with planes? He is still staring into space, eyes unfocused.

"My parents, they went away, on a plane and never came home. It crashed."

It hits her all at once and she pulls the boy onto her lap easily holding him close, as if he is much younger than he truly is. "Peter, listen to me. I won't lie to you planes do crash yes, but so rarely, did you know you a person is more likely to become an Olympic gold medallist than be in a plane crash? You can't do anything, May will be fine."

Peter does in fact feel slightly better at her words, the lead in his stomach lightening somewhat. "Can I go out? Just for a bit? To take my mind off it? Just an hour or two? I'll be straight back, I promise"

Pepper thinks on it for a second, knowing it will be a good distraction for him. "Okay." At his grin she continues "But first you need dinner, I am about to order it, so you can have your dinner and then go out but I want you home by midnight okay? Not five past midnight. Midnight. Or you're grounded okay?"

"Midnight. Got it." Peter grins hugging her close. "Thank you Pepper"

Pepper looked down at him, his smile, his doe eyes and it suddenly hit her. Tony wasn't the only one who saw Peter as his child.


	11. Two More Guests

Peter loved staying in the tower, he was able to work in SI labs outside his usual internship hours and Tony invited him into his personal labs often, admittedly he wasn't allowed into Tony's labs alone nor was he allowed to work without approval in the SI ones. He was sick of the restrictions though. He wasn't even allowed to make his web fluid without Tony being in the room. He obviously wasn't allowed to make it in the SI labs because of the whole secret identity thing but he had no idea why Tony wouldn't let him into his private lab to make some!

Peter sighed loudly and threw his head back against the couch. He had come in from school and completed his homework but he still hadn't seen hide nor hair of Tony. Why did he even let me stay if he wasn't going to be around? He thought to himself angrily. The man had been acting strangely the past four or five days, he always made sure to be at the table for dinner, Pepper insisted all three of them were to be present while Peter was staying but he disappeared straight after. It was odd, Peter hadn't wanted to pry, maybe Tony was just sick of him? Maybe looking after Peter fulltime was too much?

Sure Tony made sure to be in the kitchen coffee in hand each morning, he insisted on driving Peter to school but he hadn't been in the penthouse when he got home. He had asked yesterday over dinner if he could use Tony's lab to make his webs but the man said he would have to wait a few days, he was too busy and wouldn't be able to supervise until the weekend. He had been making webs for over a year and a half now, why did he suddenly need supervision? He never had supervision when he had been making them in the chemistry lab at school, but suddenly he wasn't trusted. What was Tony's problem?

Suddenly it came to him, he had been making the webs for ages, he could practically do it in his sleep these days. Mind pretty much made up he quickly glanced at his watch. It was only four and dinner wasn't until half past seven…plenty of time.

"F.R.I.D.A.Y. when will Tony and Pepper be home?"

"Miss Potts' final meeting ends at seven o'clock, estimated time of arrival seven fifteen. Boss has no estimated time of arrival. Would you like me to enquire when he will return?"

"No! No! It's fine Fri thank you."

Tony hadn't come in until seven twenty five all week, so he was definitely fine, no one need ever know. Mind made up he made his way to Tony's lab.

"Fri? Do you have to tell Tony if I enter the lab alone?"

"…no…I do not. But I recommend you do not enter the lab alone"

Grinning Peter ignored the AI and entered the lab pressing his finger against the pad to open the door. He knew better than to touch anything, Tony was far too observant he would know if anything moved, but Peter had his own workbench so we was fairly sure Tony wouldn't notice if anything on it moved slightly. He quickly set to work collecting the chemicals he needed for his web fluid. He hummed to himself as he worked, settling into the familiar movements oblivious to the world around him. He ended up making much more than he intended, but that was fine surely? He didn't know when he would next be able to come in here either with or without Tony for that matter. He had asked Friday to alert him at quarter to seven so he had time to clean up and sit in front of the TV so he had no worries about being caught.

ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ

Pete was going to be thrilled, Tony knew it. The boy had spoken for a full half an hour about 'Dr Banner' just two weeks ago, and now Tony had Bruce with him. He couldn't wait to see Peter's face. He'd spent the last five days trying to get everything ready for Bruce's arrival, more Natasha's arrival to be honest but still. He had been busy.

He had to ensure she was not going to be arrested on sight. He had been shocked when Bruce had got in contact with him earlier that week asking if himself and Natasha would be welcome. They had been with Thor and the Asgardians in Norway for the last several months but were eager to come home. Tony was thrilled. He hadn't realised how much he missed Bruce. Probably because Peter did such a great job filling the void, the kid was a great help in the lab but he was glad his friend, his science bro was back…they could be like a science squad now with Pete there.

He knew Nat had been slightly wary about coming home, which was why it had taken so long to get everything sorted. Both of them wanted physical proof, documents and the like to show she would not be sent to the raft. Sure she let Cap get away at the airport but it was just to stop anyone doing something they would regret. Sure tensions had been running high in Berlin but no one was aiming to kill, Siberia was another story entirely though.

Bruce looked over at his friend and smiled. It was good to be back, good to be home. Natasha and himself had spoken at length once they had reunited and had been happily together for a couple of months now. They were taking it slow but things were going well, he was happy. He could see Tony was as well. He was surprised to be honest, Tony didn't have a great track record when it came to looking after himself. He had been gobsmacked the first time the man had hung up on him so he could go and eat his dinner.

Nat felt her whole body relax as soon as she stepped into the elevator heading up to the penthouse. The top several floors of the tower always had that effect on her, it was one of the only places she could let her guard down. She had been worried it would feel different being back after so long but it felt like she never left. Tony was welcoming despite her actions against him and more importantly she had Bruce. She had been relieved when she quite literally walked into him in Oslo, she had begun to think he maybe wasn't going to come back to earth at all.

She could see Tony bouncing slightly on his heels in her peripheral vision. She couldn't remember seeing him looking so happy before. Pepper had told her it was Spiderman…Peter that had changed him, changed both of them in fact. Nat was eager to meet the kid, she had seen him in Berlin, he had potential…could cut down on the chatter but he definitely had potential. Why he was staying with Tony she didn't yet know, but the man had invited both herself and Bruce for dinner so they could meet him.

The three of them stood in silence as the elevator climbed the tower, each in their own thoughts. About halfway up it stopped and smiles spread onto all their faces as Rhodey walked into the elevator.

"Did my invite get lost in the mail Tones?" he asked with a grin as he pulled both Bruce and Nat into quick hugs.

"It's Friday, you always come for dinner on Friday why would I invite you when you would be here anyway?"

Letting out a small chuckle Rhodey nodded unable to argue the point. The last time he couldn't make Friday family dinner and didn't give warning beforehand he had been shouted at by Pepper. Just the memory made him shudder. Needless to say he would always give at least a days' notice if he couldn't make Friday dinner. He enjoyed them, he was able to catch up with his nephew, he still hadn't heard the word dad being used but he knew it would be…some time…no idea when but some time it would be.

A few floors later the elevator came to a stop again and Pepper walked in a stack of files in her hand.

"I thought you weren't finishing until seven Pep?" Tony asked as he pulled his fiancée in for a quick peck on the lips.

"I cancelled, wanted to spend some time with my favourite boys, I can catch up tomorrow anyway."

Several moments of quiet passed as the elevator continued to climb towards the penthouse. Tony still bouncing slightly on his feet, he couldn't wait to see Peter's face when he saw who he had brought with him to dinner. Speaking of Peter…

"Hey Fri? Where is underoos? I have some people he would like to meet."

"He's currently in your lab sir, should I alert him?"

Nat and Bruce saw the change in everyone as those words were said. Pepper immediately reached out placing a hand on her fiancé's shoulder as if to ground him her face falling slightly into a look of disappointment at the same time. Anger crossed Tony's face immediately as he swore under his breath, Pepper's comforting hold seeming to do little to calm him. Rhodey just sighed in exasperation and palmed his face knowing perfectly well what awaited his nephew, and himself he always helped the boy with the washing up when he was in trouble.

The tension in the elevator could be cut with a knife and the silence was finally broken as the elevator stopped at the floor of the lab without the need for a command.

"I'll take them upstairs and order dinner, Thai? Hear him out Tony, he maybe just nipped down for a second." Pepper tried to assure him.

Tony scoffed at her words as he stepped out the elevator. "He's fifteen Pep he knows the rules and he knows the consequences, I don't care if he only put a finger inside he knows the lab is off limits when he's alone. And Thai really? You are rewarding the kid."

Its Peppers turn to scoff at that one. "Which of us let Ned come over when Pete was grounded?"

With no response to that Tony simply walked away, towards his lab, towards his kid…his kid who was in deep trouble.


	12. Punishment

Peter was so immersed in his work that he didn't notice the door to the lab open and Tony walk in. He did however notice the man when he let out a sharp cough to attract his attention.

Tony watched as the boy's head snapped up at his cough and his face paled dramatically knowing he had been caught in the wrong. The man maintained eye contact with the kid as he put down the web shooter in his hand.

"What are you doing here?"

The question was crisp and clear, Peter could hear the steel and fury under the question however and didn't think twice when his own anger and resentment at the man bubbled up within himself. "What does it look like" he replied snarkily.

Tony raised an eyebrow at the boy trying not to let his disbelief at Peter's disrespect show on his face. "Would you like to try that again Peter?" he asked staring into his eyes. He watches as the teen gives a sulky shrug but refuses to speak. "You know perfectly well you aren't allowed down here alone, we've been over this rule multiple times."

Peter doesn't think as his furious response leaves his mouth "your rule is fucking bullshit."

Both of them freeze in a state of disbelief, the words repeating in their heads.

Tony is gobsmacked. How dare Peter speak to him like that! The boy knew that was unacceptable, Peter would never speak to May in such a way he was sure. Fury quickly replaced the shock he felt and he could barely get the words out. "My office now. I want your nose in a corner by the time I get there" he grits out.

Deciding he doesn't want to walk past the man just in case he swats him, Tony had a habit of giving him the occasional swat when he was misbehaving, he turns on the spot and storms out the other door of the lab making his way up the stairs. It's only two floors and he knows Tony will probably take a moment to calm himself down anyway before coming up to his office. He marches up the stairs furious at Tony. He hasn't been there all week and then suddenly appears the one time Peter goes against him. Why is he so angry anyway? That lab rule is bullshit. Oh god…I swore at Tony Stark… he thinks to himself in a slight panic before anger overtakes him again. He deserved it anyway…asshole.

Tony follows Peter upstairs a minute or so later and comes to an abrupt stop once he reaches the penthouse. Peter is frozen in the doorway looking into the lounge where Nat and Bruce are sitting staring back at him. Tony stops just behind the boy, kicking himself he should have realised Pep meant upstairs as in here not the avengers floor below. They were coming for dinner after all.

Tony drops a hand down on the frozen teens shoulder feeling him jump at the contact. He leans down and murmurs into the boy's ear "I believe I told you to find a corner in my office Peter."

"Fuck off." Peter snarks back as he tries to shrug the hand from his shoulder. He hears the other occupants of the room take in a breath but can't find it in himself to care.

Fury overtakes Tony at the boy's attitude. Without thinking he takes his hand back and swats Peter hard. "If you don't get moving this second little boy I will spank you right here. Do you hear me?"

Peter nods and practically flees to the office the door closing forcefully behind him. Bringing a hand up to run through his hair Tony makes eye contact with Pepper who has just entered from the kitchen.

"We will go downstairs, I'll order dinner to arrive in a couple of hours so you can deal with Pete unless you would prefer I do it?"

Tony shakes his head, "no I've got it, he was rude to me and in my lab, I will punish him" he turns to look at Bruce and Nat, "I'm sorry you had to see that, I don't know what has gotten into him. I assure you it will not happen again."

Still in shock over what they just witnessed Bruce and Nat simply nod and move towards the elevator in a stunned silence.

After a minute or so of staring at the wall Peter's anger subsided somewhat and dread overtook him. He was so dead. He wasn't afraid of Tony far from it, but he did not want a spanking. He heard Tony enter the room after about five minutes and sit at his desk. Ugh definitely a spanking, Peter had been sent to the corner of the office several times now and the only time Tony had ever sat on that chair was after the ferry fiasco.

"Come here." Tony sounded resigned yet firm and Peter slowly turned his eyes on his toes as he walked towards the man.

"Look at me Peter."

Peter looked up into his eyes and could already feel a slight lump in his throat when he saw the disappointment in his eyes.

"You are to be punished for being in my lab unaccompanied and for your foul language. Which do you want first?"

What kind of ridiculous question was that? He didn't want either. And two different punishments? Oh god one was a spanking but the other? Would he have to do lines again?

Tony watched as the boy turned over the question in his mind then simply shrugged. Making the decision himself Tony grabbed the boy's ear and led him to the bathroom on the other side of the office. He sat the boy on the seat and opened the cabinet grabbing a face cloth and a bar of soap. He had bought these after reading the parenting books but had honestly never expected to be using them.

When Tony began lathering the soap and covering the cloth in suds Peter realised what his punishment was. His mouth had been washed out once before when he was six and had said the word shit after hearing some older boys say it. When the man turned around wash cloth in hand Peter kept his mouth resolutely shut.

"Peter Benjamin Parker, if you don't open your mouth in the next three seconds I will be taking you downstairs and punishing you there." It was an empty threat he could never do that to the boy. His punishments were private, it was a family matter but he didn't know that.

As soon as Peter opened his mouth Tony rubbed the cloth all round his mouth, over his tongue, teeth and gums ensuring his mouth was filled with suds. "One minute per swear Pete so that's three minutes."

Peter tried not to move his tongue and tears quickly came to the corners of his eyes due to the rancid taste of the soap. How could something smell so good and taste so vile? He breathed through his nose and started jumping his leg up and down to distract himself from the horrid taste in his mouth. He had just begun drumming his hand on his thigh when Tony began speaking.

"You young man are never to speak like that again in this house okay? You are not to use such foul language against someone. I don't care if you are angry you can express yourself with other words, I did not deserve to be treated like that. If you are willing to swear at me would you speak like that to Pepper or May?"

He watched a tear slide down Peter's cheek as he shook his head furiously. "That's what I thought, if I ever hear you use such language again you will find yourself straight back here okay."

He stops lecturing the boy and looks at him feeling terrible. Fat tears were rolling down his cheeks from the awful taste and the boy was clearly trying to distract himself it. "Just one more minute Pete then you can spit." He murmured reassuringly.

Peter starts to countdown in his head desperate for the minute to end. He would never swear again. Or at least not where Tony could hear him.

"That's it, you can spit. You can rinse three times underoos" Tony says as he hands him a class.

Peter jumps to the sink spitting immediately eager to get the foul taste from his mouth. After rinsing three times the awful soapy taste remains but it's not as horrendous as before. He looks at Tony with his doe eyes begging for another rinse but is met with a shake of the head and a hand on his shoulder steering him back into the office.

Tony sits himself back on his desk chair and opens his legs pulling the boy forward to stand between them so they are eye to eye. "So let's try again Peter why were you in my lab, despite me expressly forbidding you from going in alone."

When he doesn't answer immediately and instead stares at his shoes Tony reaches a hand forward to lift his chin forcing eye contact.

"I just wanted to make more web fluid I'm running low"

"Peter I told you I would do that with you this weekend. Why did you go into the lab?"

"I don't understand your problem, I have been making the web fluid for ages, I know what I'm doing."

"Peter." Tony says firmly stopping his babbling. "I know you can make the fluid but you don't know everything that is happening in my lab all the time do you?" As the boy shakes his head he continues you. "So what if something in your web fluid contaminated something of mine? It could blow up, anything could happen."

At those words Peter paled realising the implications of his actions. "I didn't think…" he mumbled.

"You didn't think…Peter you are a smart boy. You cannot do this again do you understand?" The boy nods glumly resigned. "Right over my lap" As the boy moves to drape himself over the elders lap Tony gives a gentle but firm reminder "pants Peter, when you risk your life or risk getting hurt needlessly I will spank you bare."

His face flames but he does as he is told and stiffly lays himself over Tony's knee.

Ugh this is just as horrible as last time Tony thinks to himself. He quickly activates his gauntlet and brings his hand down on the boys bum. He builds up a steady rhythm as he turns the boy's skin pink before he begins talking.

"Why are you here Peter?"

Remembering the sharp swats for taking too long to answer the last time Peter is prompt with his response. "I broke your rule and went into your lab without permission." He groans slightly as a harsh swats prompts him to continue "I could have got hurt, or caused an accident and I was rude to you."

Nodding to himself Tony speeds up his swats bringing them down harder turning the kid's ass red. His leg kicks slightly and Tony quickly moves his own to trap it there, preventing Peter from hitting him. Soft hiccups start to leave Peter which then turns to yelp and quite cries. The sounds pull at Tony's heartstrings but he knows he has to finish the punishment or Peter will never learn. Soon the cries become all out sobs as he continues peppering Peter's ass. A minute or so later the boy falls limply over Tony's lap.

Tony takes that as his cue to finish up and promptly raises his leg for access to his sit spots. He rains his hand down hard on the boy, wanting to make sure he will be feeling his punishment for several hours.

 **Smack smack** "You are never to go in my lab by yourself again" **Smack smack** "You are not to risk your life for such a stupid reason" **Smack smack** "And you are not to use such foul language again" **Smack smack**

He replaces the boy's underwear internally wincing at the boys gasp and lifts Peter up quickly so he is once again standing between his knees. "I'm sorry Tony." The boy cries into his chest sounding much younger than he is. "I didn't mean to be bad, I didn't mean to disappoint you"

"Hey, hey. Peter you've been punished and now you're forgiven. It will not be mentioned again, but you are banned from all labs for the next ten days. No going to the lab with me. No internship."

His heart breaks as Peter continues sobbing into his chest as he rubs calming circles on his back. After several minutes Peter pulls away looking into Tony's eyes and suddenly becomes embarrassed.

"Did they…did they hear?"

It takes a second for Tony to realise what Peter meant. "No they didn't I sent everyone downstairs."

Peter falls forward again into a hug and sits himself on Tony's lap his aching bum between his knees, garnering a chuckle from the man. He moves rests his head against the man's chest tiredly and only gives a slight grunt in response to Tony's warning that he will have to be at dinner in half an hour.

Tony sighs as Peter's breathing evens out and he idly runs his fingers through his hair. "F.R.I.D.A.Y. tell Pepper to order food if she hasn't already me and Pete will be through in half an hour"

Moments later he is startled by Pepper walking in to check on them a smile breaking out at the sight of her two boys. Tears on both their cheeks.


	13. Second Impressions

Tony looks down at the teen in his arms, looking much younger asleep with tear tracks still on his face from his punishment. Sighing softly he lightly shakes the boy awake.

"Pete, hey Peter. You need to wake up buddy, dinner will be here in five minutes."

The boy makes a non-committal noise and presses himself further into Tony's chest, "mm not hungry"

Tony stands up forcing the boy to do the same despite his mumbled protests, "c'mon underoos, dinner at the table, uncle Rhodeys here. Don't you want to meet Nat and Bruce?"

When Peter's face turns a brilliant shade of red Tont realises what the problem is. "Peter, they won't mention it. I promise. Go and get washed up then go to the kitchen for dinner okay? I'll talk to them, I'm sure Rhodey will help you with the washing up after as well."

Nodding sulkily Peter left the office and made his way to his bedroom avoiding the lounge as he did so. Walking into his bathroom he washed his face but it was still slightly blotchy from crying and he knew he wouldn't be able to hide it. Knowing if he wasn't back in the lounge within five minutes Tony would come and get him he quickly changed into a pair of sweatpants but it did very little in reducing the pain in his bum. With a last look in the mirror he left his bedroom for dinner and walked down the hall to the lounge.

Bruce looked up as Peter entered and immediately saw the boy had been crying but a quick look at Tony told him not to draw attention to it. "Hi. Peter isn't it?" he asked as he stood up extending a hand to the teen "I'm Bruce."

Oh my god. Bruce Banner is speaking to me. Bruce Banner who probably knows I just got my ass handed to me by Iron Man is talking to me! Peter thought to himself. Unable to form words he just opened his mouth several times before giving a shaky nod as he shook the outstretched hand. "n-nice to meet you…Dr Banner…you're photo is on the wall at school…umm" A hand comes down on his shoulder and he instantly relaxes leaning back slightly into Tony, although careful not to put any pressure on his undoubtedly still red ass.

Bruce watches transfixed as the kid relaxes almost entirely into Tony. His friends face seems to light up when looking at the child despite the fact he had punished him not even an hour before. "Call me Bruce, no need for titles, from what Tony has been telling me you'll be a science bro in no time." He watches the boy's face flush red in embarrassment.

"yeah…that sounds really cool, thank you...Bruce. I can't wait."

Tony moves his hand from the kids shoulder and ruffles his hair "of course you will be waiting at least ten days though won't you Pete, and you will have supervision"

Ugh Tony is sooo uncool. Peter thinks to himself, how could he do that to me in front of Dr Banner, in front of the Hulk. "Yes sir" he grumbles realising Tony probably wanted an answer. He then immediately excuses himself as Pepper calls him to set the table for dinner.

Nat sits herself down at the table watching the people around her, it feels so domestic. She is swiftly joined by Tony, Bruce and Rhodey as Peter and Pepper place the last take away dishes on the table before joining them.

Peter flushes as he sits down, his wince undoubtedly noticeable to their guests, he can feel Black Widows eyes on him and resolutely keeps his eyes on his plate.

Tony allows conversation to flow naturally but can't help but notice Peter's silence, it's probably embarrassment at his situation but he couldn't find it within himself to feel for the boy, he knew what he was doing was wrong and got caught so suffered the consequences. "So Pete, Nat and Bruce are going to be staying here, on the floor below. I was thinking you could do some training with Nat if you want."

Peter's jaw dropped and he looked up from his plate for the first time eyes darting between Tony and the mentioned woman. "ummm…I guess…if that's okay with you Miss Black Widow"

He hears his uncle Rhodey snort beside him at the title and his lips quirk at his following hiss of pain, he probably received a kick from Pepper, it happens most times he comes over for dinner to be honest.

"Nat is fine kid."

"Thank you…this is so cool…"

Before the kid can continue babbling and probably embarrass himself further Rhodey asks him about school. She noticed the uncle Rhodey title as soon as the boy used it and made eye contact with Bruce, they would be discussing this development later without a doubt. Perhaps it is some sort of subtle encouragement, Tony's paternal actions are almost impossible to miss, the boy was clearly spanked while they were sent downstairs and with the way he kept screwing his face up she wouldn't be surprised if his mouth was washed out. That was much more of a surprise to be honest, who'd have thought it, Tony Stark being against swearing.

She watched as the boy seemed to relax, he still shuffled slightly in his seat trying to find a comfortable way to sit but he began engaging in conversation with Bruce over science. After finishing her meal she stood and scraped her plate into the bin, before she could move to wash it Peter intercepted her.

"I'll do it." He muttered embarrassed. "It's a rule, I've got it"

She looks down at him smiling slightly and gives him a wink "I'll scrape, you wash, your uncle Rhodey looks like he's drying kid"

Peter grins up at her, who knew Black Widow could be so cool.

"Ugh is everyone going to undermine my punishments?" Tony cries dramatically as he throws his arms into the air. The three ignore him and make quick work of the dishes before going back into the lounge where everyone is sitting.

Peter drops himself down on the sofa but can't contain the slight hiss of pain he lets out as he does so. Before he has a chance to think he feels hands around his waist pulling him up and finds himself back on Tony's lap ass between his legs once more. Half-heartedly struggling to get away, he doesn't want to look like a baby in front of Bruce and Nat after all, he quickly realises Tony won't be letting him move anytime soon and settles himself down to rest on his chest. "You're so uncool" he murmurs to the man quietly gaining and startled laugh from Pepper on Tony's other side.

Bruce can't help but smile at the domestic scene opposite him, Tony, his arm around Pepper sitting on the sofa with Peter on his lap curled up with his head resting where the arc reactor used to reside almost asleep. He reaches a hand out which is immediately taken by Nat, how glad he is to be home.


	14. Being Grounded

Being grounded sucked. Peter was halfway through his lab ban and bored to tears. He hadn't known at the time of his punishment but he was grounded as well as banned from the labs. When he had been grounded before he just did extra internship work or asked Tony to work with him in his private lab, but this absolutely sucked. It was embarrassing too, Tony had told him he had to tell Gregor himself that he wasn't able to work in the labs for ten days, that was bad enough but then he had ran into the other interns who had become sort of cool older siblings to him. They had dragged him into their break room Saturday morning to quiz him on why he hadn't been there at 8am like he usually was.

Even thinking about it made Peter blush. He had to say out loud that he had been grounded by Tony Stark, he had been grounded by Iron Man. How humiliating. On the plus side he liked hanging out with them and Chloe did text him when they had breaks so he could go and join them, otherwise he would go crazy he was sure of it. After that first day they hadn't mentioned the grounding again which he was thankful for and he knew they wouldn't bring it up in front of others, they were cool like that.

So here he was with five days left of his grounding, alone and bored. He had come in from school an hour ago and already completed his homework. Tony had told F.R.I.D.A.Y. Peter could only use his laptop for school work and the man had taken away the controllers for his PlayStation. Ugh. So bored. This was undoubtedly the worst grounding he had ever received, he had been banned from Spiderman before and lost his laptop and controllers but never the labs too!

"I'll never go in the stupid lab alone again" he mumbled to himself angrily.

"Seems like your punishment is working then kid" A voice said from behind him making him jump up onto the ceiling in fright.

"Nat! Stop doing that to me, how can I not hear you even with advanced hearing?"

She just laughs as she jumps over the back of the sofa and settles herself down. "How's it going?" she asks as he drops down next to her again.

"I'm sooo bored. I have nothing to do, Tony and Pepper are in meetings until dinner, the other interns are busy then going out to a bar later so I can't hang out with them, I can't invite my friends over or go out with them and uncle Rhodey won't be back in New York until Friday."

"Sounds tough kid. I'm not busy though we could do something, get to know each other."

Peter looks up at her shocked "really? Thanks, that sounds so cool"

Nat had already asked Tony what the kid was and wasn't allowed to do whilst grounded, she didn't want to get on the man's bad side so soon after getting home after all so knew she would have to do something inside the tower with Peter.

"Can you cook Spiderman?"

"Ummm…not really, I can make scrambled eggs that's about it"

"I'll teach you then _маленький паук_ "

Peter turns to look at her quizzically at her words but decides to simply let in slide, he doesn't want to annoy her into not hanging out with him after all.

Nat decided to start out easy and set to work collecting the ingredients for pizza dough. While she got Peter to google them a recipe.

"Okay this looks easy enough" Peter muttered to himself.

Turns out it wasn't as easy as it looked. "Peter…how is it even possible to get flour on the ceiling? All you had to do was mix."

"Sorry…sorry, I just got a bit excited I'll try again."

Nat lets out a brief laugh and measures out even more ingredients for the teen. "If Tony wasn't your dad I'm sure he'd be annoyed with the mess you're making"

Peter stops what he's doing almost dropping the bowl in shock. "Tony…he isn't…he's not" he stutters unsure if he actually wants to finish the sentence. Oh god am I seeing him as my dad? He thinks to himself frantically. He's just a guy, he's just letting me stay because I'm Spiderman, but do I want him to be my dad?

Nat watches as Peter's face cycles through emotions. Reaching out she places a hand on his shoulder "don't worry about it _маленький паук_ I shouldn't have said anything, it's not my place"

Peter nods jerkily mind still racing. Maybe he is my dad? He does act a bit like one sometimes, a bit like Ben used to. He checks my homework, makes sure I eat healthily and punishes me like I'm his kid. You don't just wash any kid's mouth out after all.

Seeing Peters thoughts are spiralling she decides to distract him. "Hey want to hear about the time I had a mission in Budapest with Clint?"

Peter nods, he knows what she is doing but is too wound up to care.

Bruce walks into the kitchen twenty five minutes later and can't help but let out a gasp of surprise. Nat and Peter are standing shoulder to shoulder at the kitchen counter spreading tomato onto five pizzas, flour is on every surface including the walls and the ceiling. His gasps interrupts Nat who was clearly telling an eager Peter about some sort of mission she had been on. "Better not let Tony hear you corrupting his kid Nat" he teases making Peter blush slightly.

"Pfft what can he do to me?"

Bruce shrugs conceding her point and rolls up his sleeves to join the pair. "So what are we putting on them?" He watches as Nat turns to look towards the teen, clearly they've built up some sort of relationship in however long they have been making pizzas because the kid hardly spoke in front of her before today being far too intimidated by her.

"I was going to make them all different so there's choices; Hawaiian, meat feast, vegetarian, chicken and then margarita because Tony is boring"

"Sounds great I'll get started on meat feast then"

Twenty minutes later and they have finished topping the pizzas which Bruce places in the fridge to keep safe while they clean.

"Only one of us can reach the ceiling so I guess that's on you to clean before Tony and Pepper get home, I'll take the walls and Nat you good with the floor and counters?" Receiving a nod from the other two Bruce gets to work happy to listen to their casual banter. It seems Peter can charm anyone Nat usually took months to be so casual with anyone else, then again Tony's relationship with the boy may play a large role, after all he doesn't trust easily either.

Tony was eager to come home, back to the penthouse and his family, he had been stuck in meetings all day and had only had time to text Peter once during the kid's lunch break. As he stood in the elevator arm around his fiancée he couldn't help the slight guilt he felt as he predicted the scene that would await him in the lounge. Since grounding Peter on Friday he had come in each evening to see the boy bored on the couch once or twice he had a book in his hand but he was always alone and always always bored. He knew Peter deserved to be grounded but he still felt bad.

"Tony, you know he deserves it, stop feeling guilty, he only has five days left anyway and you'll be here for two of them"

He nods at her words the guilt in his stomach easing somewhat as he taps his foot impatiently eager to get home to his boy.

Pepper can't help her gasp when the elevator doors open and can hear Tony doing the same next to her. She too had expected to see Peter alone on the sofa waiting for them, she had not expected to see the entire lounge covered in webs with Pet and Nat hanging from the ceiling in some strange hammock-net hybrid with Bruce lounging on the sofa book in hand.

"Oh hey Tony, Pepper…ummm…am I in trouble? I didn't go in the lab promise, Bruce got the extra fluid and the webs will be gone in a few hours" Peter asks anxiously only now realising they may not be impressed coming home to a lounge covered in webs. "We made dinner too, it should be ready soon Bruce just put it in the oven"

"Course not Pete, this is your home too as long as the mess can be cleaned I don't care." Tony assures the teen. "Hey any chance I can come up?"

He watches as the kid looks first to Nat then back to himself, "sorry, Spiders only, web rules Tony"

As she watches Tony's over dramatic sulking at their antics Pepper can't help but think Peter's grounding might go past quicker for him now he has new people to spend time with in the tower.


	15. He's not my

Peter couldn't help the grin that spread across his face as he left school on Monday afternoon, after ten days his grounding was finally over, he had so much to catch up on. And top of that list was going to Ned's to build his Lego Death Star. So cool.

He followed his friend back to his house giving a polite wave to Mrs Leeds on his way through the kitchen. "Good to see you Peter it's been a while, you been in trouble?"

Peter's blush is answer enough. When you've had the same best friend your whole life their family ends up knowing you almost as well as their own child. When Mrs Leeds makes his favourite dish for dinner he loves it, when she brings up him being grounded he loves it slightly less.

Luckily for him Ned decides it's the perfect moment to go upstairs and get started on their Lego. He drops down cross-legged in his usual spot on Ned's carpet and pulls the instructions towards him as his friend separates the pieces. They soon fall into an easy rhythm born from years of practice and get to work building.

"So what's it like being grounded by Tony Stark?" Peter's head jerks up at the question.

"Ummm…what? Being grounded is being grounded Ned"

"Duuuude. You know what I mean did he go all Iron Man on you for disobeying him?"

"What! No Ned course he didn't…"

Ned doesn't catch the end of the sentence due to his friends mumbling. "Sorry Peter did you just say apart from the gauntlet? Dude…did you get spanked by Iron Man? What else happened?" His friends blush is answer enough and he can't help the laughs that escape him.

Peter fidgets on the spot slightly uncomfortable but he always shares everything with Ned, they know everything about each other so he tries to speak quickly as if that will make it any less embarrassing. "He washed my mouth out and made me stand in the corner to cool down."

Ned's jaw drops as he stares at his best friend. "Oh my god. That's such a dad move. Peter Iron Man is your dad. He is Iron Dad."

Peter drops the Lego he is holding to look at his best friend. "No he isn't…he's umm…he's my…"

"Peter he's your dad. Think about it. How many people have sworn at Tony Stark and lived to tell the tale? Not just tell the tale but be allowed back to see him again? You call his best friend uncle Rhodey for god sake!"

"Hey! He didn't tell me to call him that, that was all Uncle Rhodey he wouldn't answer to anything else and I can't not speak to War Machine Ned!" Tony is just Tony, he can't explain it not even to himself but Tony is everything he needs him to be.

Ned scoffs shaking his head at his friend. One day Peter will realise Mr Stark is his dad, he thinks to himself. He decides to let the matter drop and picks up the Lego pieces to continue working swiftly changing the subject to discuss the possibility of an Obi-Wan prequel movie.

ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ

A couple of hours later Peter leaves Ned's a bounce in his step as he heads home…not home…to the Tower, as he heads to the tower. He takes the main entrance to the tower opposed to the private one he tends to use, he isn't grounded anymore after all he can visit the intern labs at last! As long as he has permission before carrying out experiments, of course, he can't help but mentally add thinking of the pain his ass would undoubtedly be in if he didn't have permission.

"Hey Junior. Free at last?"

Peter turns with a grin to face Chloe. "Finally want to head to the tech labs? I've got a couple of ideas…Dr Stephens is there though right or someone to approve what we're doing I'm not getting banned again already"

Chloe laughs nodding as she does so. "Sure thing, yeah Dr Stephens is there if not we will find someone, I don't want to get in trouble for letting you getting in trouble anyway, doubt I'd get off as lightly as you"

Peter looks up at her quizzically before she elaborates "any of us would have been fired or at least given a formal warning for doing unapproved work in the labs…forget about Mr Stark's private lab…actually you're the only person I know that's ever been there Junior. Huh…it must be pretty chill being Mr Starks kid doubt you could ever be fired."

Peter stops dead at her words. "You know I'm not his kid right…tell me you do know that, we aren't related in any way." Maybe he shouldn't have let the Junior thing go on so long he thinks to himself, does Tony know about it? He must do Gregor always calls me that…so does that mean Tony hasn't corrected anyone over it?

"Family isn't blood Peter, now come on we haven't been able to robot together for ten days let's go"

ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ

After an hour in the lab with Chloe Peter heads to the penthouse, it's just after seven and dinner is usually at half past. "Hey, I'm back" he hollers as he strolls in, dropping his bag onto the sofa and leaping over it to take a seat. He grabs the remote and begins channel hopping trying to find something to watch before settling on an episode of Westworld.

After several minutes Peter is jostled as another body leaps over the sofa to sit next to him. "Hey Nat" he says without needing to double check who it is, who else leaps over furniture like that other than Nat? Within seconds she is settled and the two sit in comfortable silence as they watch the show.

Tony is on his phone as he exits the elevator hardly paying attention to his surroundings as he sends some emails…after getting cuffed by Pepper for using his phone at the table a week ago he makes sure not to do any work there anymore. Hearing the TV his head snaps up and he runs across the room snatching the remote up and turning it off before turning to face Nat and Peter sitting dumbstruck on the couch.

"What the hell Nat?...No we don't watch those kind of shows with a child present….PG only"

She raises a single unimpressed eyebrow at the man fully prepared to stare him into submission before she is interrupted by Peter.

"Tony….that's so uncool, it was just getting to the good bit. I'm fifteen not five!"

"No…nope…no. No kid of mine is watching that, you'll be influenced by it, it'll ruin you!" he cries dramatically as the kid sighs in annoyance.

ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ

It's not until several hours later hat Peter realises what Tony had said…. _no kid of mine…no kid of mine…._ so does is see me as his kid? Oh my god, Tony Stark is my dad. It hits him all at once, he makes Dad jokes in the lab, he makes sure his homework is done, he makes him eat his five a day, he even carried him to bed that one time he fell asleep in the lab.


	16. Sickday

It had been two days since the dad realisation as Peter was now calling it in his own mind and he couldn't get it out of his head. Everything Tony was doing he was now second guessing to see if he was just acting as he was out of a sense of duty as his mentor or for another reason. Even worse the thought had expanded to include Pepper pretty quickly, he may not hang out with her alone as much as he did Tony but she was always there for him and when Tony was busy in the evenings she was always happy to watch a movie or something with Peter. She had taken to showing him how to cook recently, after all Tony could make lasagne and little else so she was determined one of them should be able to cook in case she went away anywhere on business. Her words were stuck in Peter's head… _I refuse to go away on business and come back to find my boys have been eating only takeaways for weeks, no way. Peter you will learn_. Her boys…Tony's place was clear…but Peter didn't want to assume his own.

He had to admit Pepper's actions were easier to interpret than Tony's but sometimes he was not a fan of her mothering, he couldn't decide if she did it just to replace May while she was away though.

Pepper took one look at Peter when he came into the kitchen for breakfast before school and sighed. The boy looked pale. "Peter you look pale, do you feel alright?" she asked pressing her hand against his head.

Peter took a step back slapping her hand away "I'm fine Pepper, just stressed I've got a lot of school work, I'm fine" truthfully he was not fine, his head hurt, his stomach was churning uncomfortably and he was exhausted but he did have a lot of school work to do, a class test in chemistry and if he took the day off school there was no way Tony would let him patrol later.

"You don't feel too warm I suppose, it could just be from your shower" Pepper sighed as she held her hand against his head again as he nodded furiously at her words.

"I'm fine, honest." Peter assures her as he skirts round Pepper into the kitchen to make himself a bowl of cereal for breakfast.

Pepper decides just to let the matter drop, Peter would tell her if there was something wrong with him, wouldn't he? Yes he would, he's a smart boy. Convincing herself she is just overreacting she asks Peter about school and allows conversation to flow normally.

Twenty minutes later Peter found himself sitting silently in the backseat of Happy's car on his way to school. "You okay back there kid? You're awfully quiet?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm good Happy great in fact." He tried to avoid meeting the older man's eyes in the rear-view mirror by taking his phone from his pocket and scrolling through twitter. It seemed to work however as as soon as they pulled up round the corner from the school, Peter maintained it would look weird if he was dropped at school by Tony Starks driver on a regular basis, Peter jumped out the car and jogged away.

As soon as Ned laid eyes on his best friend he knew there was something wrong, ten years of friendship made it almost impossible for Peter to hide anything from him…other than Spiderman that is but that hadn't lasted all that long anyway. Knowing Peter would just deny feeling ill he decided just to ignore it unless Peter got worse. His friend was stubborn and he couldn't be bothered arguing with him, he himself had been ill over the weekend, his mum almost hadn't let Peter visit on Monday she was so convinced he was still sick…on second thought he probably made Peter sick…oops.

The two only had time for a quick hello before the homeroom bell rang and they had to fight their way through the sea of students towards their class.

ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ

By the time Peter dropped into his usual seat in Chemistry, his third class of the day, he felt horrendous. He could see Ned to his left looking at him worriedly but ignored him, he was fine, totally fine. I'm probably just warm from rushing to class is all, I can't get sick…can I? Have I been sick since the bite? He asked himself, he honestly had no idea, if his body could heal the odd black eye he got while patrolling overnight then surely he couldn't get a cold. He was startled from his musing when the person in front of him passed him the stack of tests for him to take one and pass it along, doing so he couldn't help but shiver slightly…I was warm two seconds ago, why the hell am I shivering now?

Trying to push his discomfort to the back of his mind he turned his test and started reading at his teachers command. Ten minutes later he was somehow feeling worse, the words on the page seemed to be moving and he was having difficulty stopping his teeth from chattering. He unconsciously curled in on himself as if that would help him feel better and tried to battle on with his test but by this point he could hardly see straight let alone read.

Suddenly it was as if the world tilted on its axis, his head was spinning and the churning in his stomach returned abruptly and violently. He attempted to stand in order to tell his teacher he really wasn't feeling well but would have fell sideways before even getting a word out if not for the steadying grip on his arm.

"Mr Parker! Mr Leeds! What is the meaning of this? Get on with…" started Mr Grant, but upon lifting his head and taking a look at Peter he stopped abruptly and leapt to his own feet. "Another one?" he sighed quietly to himself. "Take a seat Mr Leeds, I've got him." He gripped his student's arm and was shocked when the boy almost collapsed against him, he really must be unwell how did he even make it to this far in the day?

Peter could hardly focus on putting one foot in front of the other as he was almost dragged by his chemistry teacher to the nurse's office. Usually he would protest having to see the nurse but he honestly felt far too horrendous to care, he just wanted to sleep…okay throw up then sleep.

Peter was dropped onto the cot in the corner with a bucket placed between his legs, he tuned out the conversations going on around him as his stomach turned violently and he was sick into the bucket. Tears ran down his face unchecked as he heaved several times bringing up his cereal from that morning.

"Peter your Aunt isn't answering, we will just call the next number okay? No need to worry, you'll be home and in bed soon" Peter nodded hardly listening to her words as his head continued spinning. After another minute or so of throwing up he turned himself to lie on the cot, the cool leather of it feeling great against his sweaty forehead.

ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ

Tony was bored. He was in another shareholders meeting and it was just as dull as always, he knew why Pepper insisted he come to them but it was still mind-numbingly boring. Suddenly a phone started to ring and he was snapped into full alert. After all phones should be turned off in meetings and he loved making people uncomfortable over it when they forgot. Huh…why is everyone looking at me? He thought as he felt twelve pairs of eyes staring at him including those of his very unimpressed fiancée. Then it hit him that was his phone, but who could be ringing him his phone was on emergency calls only and Pepper was him and Peter at school. He pulled his phone from his pocket ready to just hang up but one look at the caller ID and he stood up from his chair. "Excuse me ladies and gentlemen, I really must take this." He ignored their grumbling as he tilted the screen somewhat so Pepper could see who was phoning, receiving a nod from her he sped from the room picking up the call as he did so.

"Stark here…no really me…no she's away…yes of course…is he okay?...I'll be there as soon as I can."

He hung up the phone as he ran down to his private garage, usually he would have called Happy but the man was on the other side of the city making some deliveries so he would be quicker going himself. Jumping into the closest Audi he sped towards Midtown worry clouding his mind.

Tony reached Peter's school in record time, he had probably broken numerous traffic laws but his kid was sick…would that work in court…meh…he was Tony Stark it would be fine. He rushed inside glad class was still in session otherwise he would probably be mobbed, which would slow down his trip to Peter, where the hell was the nurses office anyway?

Seconds later he spotted a sign for said office and followed it skidding to a stop outside the door. Running a quick hand through his hair he knocked and entered the small room his eyes immediately falling on Peter who was asleep on a cot in the corner. God the kid looked like shit. Was that a bucket of sick, was he dying? Why didn't I get Pepper to come…what do I do?

"Mr Stark?"

Tony was pulled from his spiralling thoughts by the question and turned to face the person that spoke.

"Sorry to interrupt your day, but you were down as his secondary contact. Peter fell unwell in his chemistry class Mr Stark, we called his Aunt but she isn't answering so you were next on the list. As you can see Peter is too unwell to stay in class today would you be able to take him home?"

"It's no problem, I'm never too busy for Peter, okay yeah, May is away he is staying with me at the moment I'll take him home, don't worry. What's wrong with him?"

"I'm only a nurse not a doctor Mr Stark but it appears to just be a virus, he has thrown up several times and has a fever. Many students have had it in the last few weeks, I daresay he will be fine in a couple of days."

His worry fading the tiniest amount Tony nodded and walked over to the boy in the corner. He kneeled down next to him and lightly shook his shoulder. "Hey Peter…Pete…you need to wake up buddy, I'm taking you home."

Peter groaned, he could feel someone shaking his arm to wake him up, but he didn't want to wake up, he was comfortable sleeping. The shaking became more insistent and he grumpily peeled his eyes open to tell them to stop when he realised who it was. "Tony" he grumbled "Go 'way…I wanna sleep, I'll go later."

Tony laughed slightly, Peter sounded much younger than usual and he didn't have the heart to make him walk to the car, the kid was sick he would make allowances! Sighing he stood up and pulled the boy into his arms, it wasn't easy but Peter wasn't particularly heavy it was more awkward than anything else. He smiled politely at the nurse as she opened the door for him and carried his kid towards the Audi he had parked illegally right outside the school gates.

Opening the passenger side door he managed to deposit Peter onto the chair albeit with some difficulty, the kid was a dead weight. He pulled the seatbelt over the boy before getting in himself. He looked worriedly over at the teen, a sheen of sweat was clear on his forehead yet he was pale as a sheet, how did people do this? The nurse said it was just a virus…but she wasn't an actual doctor he would get a second opinion…it could be anything! His kid was sick! Why didn't the nurse call an actual doctor, it was Peter that was sick! His Peter!

He pulled his phone from his pocket and dialled, he knew the perfect person to help him.

"Helen, I heard you're in New York, it's an emergency can you meet me at the tower?"


	17. Sickday Part 2

Helen was unimpressed. Tony used the word emergency…this was certainly not an emergency. She looked down at the teen in the bed and her heart went out to him it really did, but he was not that sick. He had a virus from school he would be totally fine in a few days.

"But look at him! He is sick, can't you give him something? He has a fever Helen!" Tony half whined half demanded.

For the first time since arriving she truly looked at the man. His hair was a mess from running his hands through it in worry and frustration and his clothes were crumpled and stained with…was that vomit? From carrying the boy.

"Look Tony, I get it, I really do…I'll hazard a guess this is the first time he's got sick under your care…all new parents go through this. He is fine, in a few days he will be back to his usual teenage self, just make sure he rests, and drinks plenty of fluids. If you really need a doctor Bruce will be enough, Peter will be okay Tony, trust me."

Tony looked at her doubtfully. Why wasn't she helping him? Sure she had hooked him up to an IV with some slightly enhanced drugs to help with his fever due to his metabolism but she didn't seem too worried. Was she looking at a different kid to him? Peter was pale and sweaty, his breathing laboured. Peter isn't fine. He opened his mouth to argue further when a hand clasped his arm and he turned to face his fiancée.

"Listen to her Tony, I'm worried too but we won't leave him by himself, he will be fine. Bruce is just one floor down if we need him."

Tony looked into his fiancée's eyes and nodded sulkily. "Fine, but I will call you if anything changes Helen. If it's to do with Peter it's always an emergency."

She rolled her eyes but nodded at the worried parent standing over his ill son. "Fine Tony, but I assure you he will be okay, remember plenty of fluids you want his fever to break."

Pepper nodded at the doctor and showed her to the door thanking her for her time knowing Tony would not be leaving their kid's room for anything short of a global disaster…actually maybe not even for that…Peter came first, always.

Not long after Dr Cho had arrived and declared Peter was not ill enough for the med bay Tony had carried him up to his bedroom, after all he wanted Peter to be comfortable and where better than his own bed? So here he now was sitting on Peter's desk chair, his fingers absently running through the teen's sweaty locks.

"You need to change your shirt Tony, that one is disgusting…." Pepper started.

"I'm not leaving him"

She sighed as she looked fondly at her lover, he'd never looked more like Peter's father than in that moment. "Good thing I brought the shirt to you then isn't it?" she replied smiling sadly as she threw it at him and sat herself on the chair at the other side of the bed. Peter was rarely anything but full of life so to see him looking sick was jarring and something she didn't wish to see again anytime soon.

ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ

Several hours had passed since Peter was carried to his bed and Tony had yet to leave his side, he had called to update May on the situation reassuring her she needn't come home but other than that he had silently watched over his child. Peter's temperature was still high but no longer rising, clearly Helen's drugs were doing something for the kid, but not enough. He currently had Bruce working on more medication for Peter, usually he would be eager to join but right now he couldn't bear to leave the boy's bedside.

"You should wake him, he needs food Tony" he jumped at Pepper's words, the first spoken between them in over an hour. He nodded as she stood leaving the room, he could only assume to get something for Peter to eat.

Tony moved his hand from the boy's hair and lightly shook his shoulder. "Peter, hey…time to wake up underoos."

Peter could hear someone calling his name but it seemed muffled and far away, he was comfortable why wouldn't they go away? The voice became more insistent and he could feel a hand on his shoulder, now awake he groaned audibly rolling onto his back as he lifted a heavy arm to cover his eyes. God, he felt like shit. He peeled an eye open and looked to his left to find the owner of the annoying voice was to his surprise, Tony.

Why is Tony here? How did I get here? Where am I? Is this school? The questions ran through his head quicker than he could comprehend them, he could feel his chest ache as his breathing sped up due to his panic.

Seeing the beginning signs of a panic attack Tony stood and leaned over Peter to look into his eyes. "Hey look at me Pete…you're okay...you're in your bedroom, here, at the tower, you were sick at school remember?"

Peter stared up at him blinking slowly as his breathing slowed but he still couldn't understand what the man was saying. "Huh" he grunted unintelligently which earned him a snort from Tony. He tried to push the man's hands away when they felt his forehead but he felt far too weak so just settled for an unhappy sigh as the man dragged him up into a sitting position and propped him up with pillows.

"Hey don't look at me like that" Tony chided the pouting teen "you need food kid, Pepper will be back in just be two minutes with some soup for you. How do you feel? Are you going to be sick?"

Peter shrugged, he didn't really know to be honest, he supposed he wouldn't know if he felt sick until he ate something. He looked up when Pepper entered, lap-table in hand and grinned, he hadn't realised how hungry he was until he could smell chicken noodle soup. He gripped the spoon in his hand but was having difficulty scooping soup onto it and getting it to his mouth without spilling any.

Tony watched as Peter tried and failed a good six times to eat his soup and he knew he would have to intervene. He reached over and plucked the spoon from the boys hand while perching himself on the edge of the bed. "Let me, Pete" he murmured softly.

Peter could feel the blush covering his face but he had to admit he was hungry and he clearly didn't have the energy to feed himself so he just nodded and resigned himself to the humiliation of being spoon-fed at fifteen. He was pleasantly surprised when Tony didn't make any jokes at his expense over it and simply fed him spoonfuls of the delicious soup. Before he had even eaten half the bowl however he could feel his eyes drooping and he had to fight to stay awake, Tony's murmured promises that if he had a few more spoonful's he could sleep were the only thing keeping him falling asleep right that second.

Pepper had watched on fondly as her fiancé spoon-fed the boy they both thought of as a son and couldn't help but notice the two moving closer to each other while doing so. By the time Tony had finished feeding the boy he was fully sitting on the bed and Peter was tucked into his side Tony's arm around his shoulders, holding him close as he struggled to keep his eyes open. She knew she would be asking F.R.I.D.A.Y. to give her a snapshot of the moment later.

Tony looked down fondly at the boy at his side, he could plainly see the boy's exhaustion. "Go to sleep underoos, we'll still be here when you wake up, you'll feel better after a nap, I promise."

The boys sleepy response would be etched into Tony's brain until the day he died, he was sure of it. "Yes dad."


	18. Calling May

It was Wednesday that Peter was sent home from school sick and only now four days later was Tony allowing him to leave his bed for anything other than the toilet. The first day and a half hadn't been too bad because he had admittedly been too sick to feel bored but since then it had been torture! So boring.

Sure he had to admit Tony had made sure he was never left alone, heck, the man hadn't left his side at all for the first two days and was still texting him every few hours between his meetings to make sure Peter was okay but Tony hadn't let him do anything but watch TV and sleep, he was going stir crazy. Sure he was a teenager and he loved both of those things but he was usually so active, sitting in bed was just boring.

He had finally been able to leave his bedroom though, he was now a whole thirty feet away from it! Tony had allowed him to move into the lounge which was a minor improvement. He knew the man had been worried he had been hovering over him for days but it was getting a little suffocating especially as he now felt pretty much one hundred percent fine but Tony still wouldn't let him do anything, he couldn't visit the labs, invite Ned over or even go down and see Nat and Bruce. Tony had also made it very clear Spiderman was not to be patrolling until at least Tuesday.

Today was the first day he had been left by himself since he fell ill, in the past he would have considered just doing whatever he wanted and gone out patrolling anyway, but he knew Tony would class that as endangering his health needlessly as he still wasn't in top form…and he certainly didn't want his ass warmed because he went out due to boredom. So here he was sprawled out on the couch under a blanket watching Netflix, he was hardly paying any attention to the screen however and was simply letting his mind wander.

He was beginning to feel at home here in the tower and he couldn't help but feel guilty over it. His home was in Queens with May, was he abandoning her by feeling so comfortable here? While he'd been sick in bed he had missed her, it was the first time he could remember being sick and she wasn't there to comfort him, it really made her absence hit him more than it had any other time over the past few weeks. Tony and Pepper were there and gave him anything he wanted or needed, he couldn't ask for anymore from them but still, he missed May.

It had only been three weeks but it was the longest he had been apart from May since he had gone to live with her after his parents died, she was the only mother figure he had up until Pepper, sure he called her Aunt May, always had and always would but she was there for him. So yeah, he missed her terribly. After Uncle Ben had died they only grew closer so it was tough not seeing her whenever he wanted.

Rhodey was not prepared for the scene he walked into when he left the elevator. He knew Tony had to go to several meetings this afternoon and Pepper had back to back meetings the entire day and with Nat and Bruce away for the weekend he knew his nephew was probably lonely and bored so decided to visit. With Peter being ill Friday family dinner was cancelled so he hadn't seen the boy in over a week, and he hadn't expected the first time he saw him for the boy to be curled up on the sofa staring into space with tears running down his cheeks. He knew the teen was probably in a world of his own so moved slowly and tried not to startle him, "Hey Pete, what's wrong?"

When the boy didn't answer he simply lifted the blanket that was covering him and sat down next to him before pulling the teen into a side hug and letting him sob into his chest. He knew the boy wasn't still sick, Pepper had told him the kid was completely fine but Tony was just being paranoid in not letting him leave the penthouse. Which begs the question, why is he crying?

Peter knew he should be embarrassed, he hadn't even realised he was crying until Uncle Rhodey pulled him in close, but he couldn't find it within himself, he simply let his uncle comfort him and he cried. After several minutes he calmed down and pulled away from Rhodey who was looking at him worriedly.

"What's up Pete?"

Peter didn't know why he let the words slip out but he did and he had no way of taking them back. "Do you think May hates me because I think of Tony as dad in my head sometimes?"

Rhodey felt his jaw drop, he knew Peter had let the d word slip after all, Tony had called him within minutes of it happening almost in tears. He didn't expect Peter to admit to his feelings so soon though. He looked down at his nephew wiping away the tears softly with his thumb, "Peter look at me, I don't know your Aunt May but from what I've heard about her I don't think she could ever hate you."

Peter thought about his words for a moment allowing them to sink in. Rhodey could be right, May had always supported everything he did, even Spiderman but was this too much? She had raised him after all would she be angry he was replacing her? But was he really replacing her? She was still Aunt May, Queens was still his home. Tony and the tower was just becoming like a second home, kind of like when parents divorced he supposed.

"Why don't you call her? I'm sure she's missing you and wants to see you're better with her own eyes anyway"

Peter found himself nodding, he knew if he didn't call he would just worry and if he worried, Tony would worry and then Pepper and they would tell May something was bothering him, so everyone would just be worried.

"I want to do it alone" he found himself saying with more conviction than he perhaps felt but he was relieved when Rhodey nodded assuring him it was fine and he would check back on him in an hour or so.

Peter moved back to his bedroom dragging the blanket with him before asking F.R.I.D.A.Y. to video call May through his TV. She picked up on the second ring and he couldn't stop the smile which spread across his face as he laid eyes on her. She looked tired, she was probably working hard but she looked healthy and that's all he could ask for.

"Hey Peter, feeling better? Pepper told me Tony is being a bit overzealous."

He laughed lightly at her words assuring her he was totally fine and Tony was just worrying over nothing. They fell into casual conversation easily as if they were together and not hundreds of miles apart speaking through screens.

May knew as soon as her eyes fell on Peter something was bothering him, he was fidgeting slightly and not fully invested in the conversation. She let conversation flow for twenty minutes or so before interrupting knowing if she didn't Peter probably wouldn't speak up about whatever was on his mind. "Peter, why did you call? What's on your mind?"

Damn. He should have known she would be able to tell, other than Spiderman he had never managed to successfully hide anything from her. "I call Tony dad in my head sometimes" he blurted out as if saying the words quicker would make the moment pass faster. He avoided looking at the screen, at her face, in a mix of embarrassment and fear.

May smiled softly, she knew this call was probably coming and she was glad Peter was willing to talk about it with her rather than bottling it up. "Peter look at me, there's no need to be embarrassed, I expected this. It's okay I don't mind, it's understandable." She watched him fondly as his head snapped up and jaw dropped in shock.

"But I never called Uncle Ben that. Is it not disrespectful?"

"Peter you were four when you came to us you probably don't remember much, but you had known us forever, I was Aunt May and Ben was Uncle Ben to you. Why would we change that? It just became normal for you, we never expected to be called mum or dad. We both knew we were in those roles but the title was not needed."

He let her words sink in and felt his whole body relax as the tension he didn't know he had left his body. "You don't mind then?"

"Peter, Tony is your dad in everything but blood, if you want to call him dad call him dad. I know he will be thrilled, and the same with Pepper, you would not be disrespecting my role in your life if you call her mum. I understand."

"Thank you" he mumbled as he brushed the stray tears from his cheeks. He felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ

When Rhodey entered the apartment an hour later he was almost knocked from his feet due to the force of Peter's hug. He held the boy tight in his arms as he babbled into his chest his thank you's for telling him to call May. When Peter pulled away he smiled down at him. "Do you think we have time for a few games of Mario Kart before your dad gets home?" Never before had a question of his been met with such a dazzling smile.


	19. The Mysterious Dart

Tony watched as Peter shifted from foot to foot waiting for his response, he knew he would have to say yes and let him go on patrol but he wasn't particularly happy about it. What if his illness came back all of a sudden while he was out? What if he wasn't actually one hundred percent – sure Bruce had said he was fine, so had F.R.I.D.A.Y. and Pepper, but what if they were wrong?

Peter sighed softly, he was losing hope, Tony had said he could go out on patrol today if he felt fine, and he was totally fine! He had been back at school the day before with no issue and he had been in the training rooms last night with Nat, Tony was being ridiculous. The man had asked Bruce to check his temperature three times! Three times! Rhodey and Pepper were no help, both just watched in amusement as Tony mothered him. He had completed all his homework, eaten all his dinner including the second and third portions Pepper had served him, he had even tidied his room, Tony had no grounds to stop him going out as Spiderman and surely the man knew it.

Tony sighed deeply, "fine. You can go out…" he had to pause for Peter's whoop at his words. "but you have to be home by midnight, on the dot. Other than that usual rules apply underoos, got it?" He smiled as the boy nodded his head frantically eager to change and go out. "Off you go then Pete" the words had hardly left his mouth before Peter was running back towards his bedroom to change and grab his webshooters.

Peter wasted no time in changing into his suit and running up to the roof of the tower. Leaving from the roof was always exhilarating, the view was stunning and he loved the adrenaline rush of the slight freefall before he shot a web towards the next building. He wasn't allowed to leave from the roof every time, after all, Tony didn't want the general public to know Spiderman lived with him in case Peter was discovered to be living there and a connection was made. Him living at the tower wasn't necessarily a secret, after all, Ned and MJ both knew as did many Stark Industries employees, Tony and Pepper were just reluctant to let the masses know in case it put Peter in danger. So, the odd time he did leave from the roof he loved it.

He swung his way towards Queens only deviating from his course to break up a small scuffle outside a bar. Within twenty minutes he had reached Queens and was breathing heavily. It was the fastest he had ever managed to reach it from the tower and he couldn't help but be proud of the accomplishment. He lay down on the roof of an apartment building to catch his breath and chat with Karen for a little while. After about ten minutes his breathing had evened out so he leapt up and began to swing aimlessly around Queens looking for trouble…if Tony ever asked he was looking for people to help, he would never _look_ for trouble.

"Karen, have you got anything for me?"

"Small-scale burglary two blocks east. No 'call me dammit' weapons"

Peter rolled his eyes at that, _one_ time he didn't call Tony when faced with someone with alien tech and he wouldn't drop it. He'd been grounded after that particular incident and wasn't looking for a repeat anytime soon.

As he approached the scene he could see three men dressed in black with their faces covered loading items into the back of a truck. Swinging down so he landed on top of the truck they all stared at him in shock. "Ever heard you shouldn't take what doesn't belong to you?" he asks sarcastically. He leaps into action immediately webbing the feet of the first man to the street he was standing on before winding it around his legs so he had no chance of moving before the police arrived. Looking up he could see the other two were trying to get away, he webbed the hand of one to the door of the truck preventing him from escaping with their ill-gotten gains. The third appeared to have given up entirely on their crime and was simply trying to run away, but no ordinary man would be able to outpace Peter especially with his webs. Throwing an arm out he effortlessly caught the man's left leg in a web and pulled him back as the man swore colourfully at him. "Hey, hey, hey watch the language man…not cool". He made quick work of the man leaving him webbed to the side of their truck as he asked Karen to call the police and report the location of the criminals.

He webbed away before the police arrived, he was always slightly anxious they might try and question him or something so he tried to make himself scarce before they arrived. "Good work Spiderman". He couldn't help the grin that spread across his face, he knew Karen was just an AI and not a real person but he still appreciated the sentiment from her.

The next two hours or so passed in a similar manner as he continued patrolling Queens. He generally stayed within Queens itself for the majority of the evening only heading back towards Manhattan as he neared his curfew. He sighed softly to himself as he continued towards the tower he had half an hour until he had to be home and he was determined to make the most of it but it had been an extremely quiet night.

"Karen, you got anything yet?" he was expecting a negative response just as he had received the last several times so let out a small cheer at her response. "A large group of suspicious looking men are gathered four blocks west. Several knives. No 'call me dammit weapons'"

He jumps into action immediately to a rooftop which would give him a good view of the people below. He could see straight away what Karen had been speaking about, there was a group of maybe ten men dressed head to toe in black standing together some of whom appeared to be arguing. He remained on the rooftop for several seconds as he took a good look at the scene quickly spotting several of the men had knives and knowing he would have to get a hold of those quickly. Peter leapt into action straight away snatching two of the knives within seconds and webbing them to the wall of the building he had been on top of mere moments ago. Taking on ten fully grown men was difficult he had to admit but he had managed before and as he was removing the knives quickly and efficiently he felt more confident. He realised pretty quickly that these men were one group and simply disagreeing with each other, they were, unfortunately, able to settle their differences enough to fight Peter with some efficiency. Suddenly Karen started almost shouting in his ear and he noticed at the same moment some of the men tense as they looked into the shadows. "Call me dammit weapons present Peter"

Swearing softly Peter ordered her to call Tony, he did not want another punishment after all and spun on the spot to face the new threat. A man was emerging from the shadows dressed in dark clothes with his face covered but that was not the main issue. The gun in his hand was not like one Peter had ever seen, not even like one on the TV. Alien Tech. It had to be. "Leave us, I will handle him, keep looking for buyers, we have a lot of stock" the man commanded to the others who wasted no time leaving the scene.

Peter swallowed nervously, he knew Tony would be on his way and he wasn't that far from the tower so he would probably only be a couple of minutes.

Tony was in his workshop when F.R.I.D.A.Y. cut off his music, he looked up from his work angrily about to demand an explanation when his AI spoke. "Alert from Spiderman. Alien tech situation, help required." He swore loudly leaping over the table towards the door as he activated his nanotech armour at the same time. Tony was on the roof in moments and wasted no time leaping off it, just as his kid had earlier the same evening. He flew as fast as he could towards Peter's location unsure what exactly he would find.

Peter let out a breath as he heard Tony's repulsers in the distance quickly coming closer to them. The man was fast, he didn't appear to be enhanced but he was clearly a career criminal of some kind as no matter how hard he tried Peter could not get the weapon from him. They seemed to be evenly matched as neither gained much ground on the other.

Tony's heart was in his throat when he laid eyes on Peter but he was also proud of the boy. He had known he was in trouble and called him immediately, the boy also seemed to be holding his own. He landed behind the man with a thud causing him to turn slightly to face the suit. Tony watched with satisfaction as his face paled as soon as he registered who was in front of him.

Peter seized the brief moment and grabbed the gun with a web pulling it from the man's slackened grip. The small thrill of excitement quickly vanished however as he pulled the gun towards him. He couldn't say how it happened, it could have been his webs reacting with it or maybe the man managed to pull the trigger but he heard a bang then indescribable pain in his shoulder.

As soon as he heard the bang Tony shot the man in front of him not caring if he killed him or not as he rushed towards his son in all but blood. Peter had fallen to the ground in shock but still appeared to be conscious. He slid his arms under the teen and gathered him into his arms immediately heading back towards the tower calling Bruce to the medbay at the same time.

Peter was barely clinging onto consciousness when he arrived at the tower in agony. His whole body felt strange, lethargic.

Bruce jumped into doctor mode as soon as Peter was placed on the bed. He appeared physically okay apart from his shoulder which had…was that a dart? Sticking out of it. He took a closer look and gasped, he had seen those before.

Tony watched as realisation crossed Bruce's face and the man began to work with even more urgency. Within minutes he had removed the dart from the boy's shoulder and was dressing it. As soon as the dart was out he appeared much more relaxed however as if all the tension swept from his body, it was a stark contrast to how he had looked when he recognised the dart…so was Peter okay now? He let the man finish his work before looking to him for an explanation, which he provided immediately.

"I saw those darts in Sakaar they are a punishment for criminals, they are used to de-age offenders to serve longer sentences before they die, or keep them alive for a lifetime of suffering."

Tony choked at his words rushing over to the teen on the bed and running his fingers through his hair as if he would disappear. "So Peter? Will he be okay? How much younger will he be? Will he have to redo years of his life"

Bruce looked over at his friend's panicked state and smiled. "There is a cure, I can ask Thor to go and retrieve it, it may take him a week or so to collect it though. But Peter will be fine, the drug works relatively quickly his body will change soon, I will give him a sedative to keep him out, it's a painful procedure otherwise, I cannot say how much younger he will be though, it could be a few years it could be ten."

"But he will be fine? Will he remember us?"

"Yes physically he will be fine, maybe a little pain from his bones shrinking down but some painkillers will sort that out. He will probably remember you but he won't act like he does now, he will have the memories he has a fifteen-year-old but the attitude and temperament of his physical age."

Tony digested his friend's words as the worry enveloping him receded somewhat at the news Peter would be okay. One thought suddenly took over his mind replacing the remaining worry with panic.

"What if he's a baby? Nappies? Crying? Bruce what do I do."

"Tony he's your son, you'll be fine"


	20. Little Peter

Tony was exhausted. It was now seven in the morning and he had hardly had any sleep, he phoned Pepper immediately after Bruce sedated Peter to explain the situation to her. She had been in Boston on business for a few days but was due back in an hour or so. She had of course been much more proactive than himself and had already organised for toys, clothes and other items to be delivered to the tower.

Of course after Pepper he had to make the much harder call to May to explain her nephew was going to spend the next week or so de-aged because of some alien tech Tony had been unable to protect him from. She had wanted to come home initially but it wasn't a feasible solution as she would lose any chance for a promotion so she made him promise to let Peter call her at some point that day.

He looked down at the child still asleep in the hospital bed, Bruce assured him the sedatives had worn off and the boy would wake up soon. It had been a bizarre experience watching Peter de-age in front of his eyes. It had only taken about four hours in total but it was amongst the strangest four hours of Tony's life, and he had been to Space. Bruce had looked over Peter and said he was about three years old which to Tony's relief meant Peter was likely potty trained. He looked so cute in his sleep, he tended to gel his hair as a teenager to tame the curls but as a toddler he had a full head of them and Tony was in love. He had changed the boy into one of his own t-shirts once he had finished shrinking knowing there would be nothing in the penthouse that would fit until Pepper's order arrived this morning.

He couldn't take his eyes off the boy looking so tiny and innocent so noticed immediately when he began to stir. He watched as Peter blinked sleepily several times before looking around the room, the confusion and slight fear he was feeling was clear to see on his young face. The whimpers which escaped him broke Tony's heart.

"Hey Peter, you're okay. You got hurt you're in the medbay, do you remember?"

"Funny gun"

Tony smiles at the childish answer, "yes Pete well done, the funny gun made you small again." He had read the parenting books he had picked up months before cover to cover and he couldn't be more thankful now. He remembered reading that it was important to praise young children and he intended to do his absolute best for this boy.

Peter nodded distractedly as he looked around the room. "Aunt May?"

"She's away Peter, but you can call her in a little while" He saw the child's lip begin to quiver and tears pool in the corner of his eyes. "Shhh don't cry underoos, it's okay, I'm here, Tony's here"

He moved to sit next to the child on the bed who quickly burrowed into his side seeking comfort. Tony simply lifted the toddler and swung his legs onto the bed as he deposited the boy on his lap.

Peter was confused, he had woken up in a slightly familiar place but wasn't able to actually name where he was. He had just wanted May, when he woke up she always made things better, her hugs made him feel safe, hearing she wasn't there was devastating. He would have started crying if the man sitting at the side of his bed hadn't spoken so quickly. Tony…Tony…he knew that name. "Daddy?"

Tony looked down at the boy in his arms in shock. He opened his mouth to say something but couldn't get his words out, did Peter know who he was?

Peter looked up at the man confused. Why isn't daddy answering? He turned in the man's arms to face him and looked into his eyes. "I-on Man? Daddy."

Tony let out a choked laugh at Peter's words. "Yes Petey-Pie. Iron Man's here. Daddy's here, no need to worry. Daddy's here." Those words seemed to be enough for the toddler as he immediately threw his tiny arms around Tony's neck and hugged him close.

The scene Bruce walked in on was one he never would have expected to see a year ago but having seen teenage Peter and Tony's relationship he was unsurprised. Tony was sitting on the hospital bed his chin resting on Peter's head as tears ran down his cheeks. When the two made eye contact Tony whispered "He called me Daddy, he knows who I am, and he called me Daddy."

Bruce grinned, he had seen it coming for a while and was thrilled for the man. "I need to do a few checks, it will only take a few minutes then Peter should be free to go."

As soon as the words left Bruce's mouth Tony felt the boy in his arms tense then start to tremble. "Sshh Peter it will only take a few minutes okay. Daddy's here I'll hold your hand the whole time." The boy was still shaking though and he knew it was probably poor parenting but he didn't want to argue with a toddler so decided bribery was the way to go. "If you're good for Bruce you can have blueberry pancakes for breakfast Pete, doesn't that sound good?" Blueberry pancakes were one of Peter's favourite foods Tony knew, it was also one of the few things he could actually make for the boy so whenever Pepper was away he made them for breakfast and Peter always demolished them.

At the words blueberry pancakes Peter sat up in Tony's arms. "Pwomise?"

"I promise Pete"

With that declaration Peter climbed from the man's lap and shuffled to sit on the edge of the bed facing Bruce.

Bruce let a smile appear on his face as he looked at the child sitting on the edge of the bed swinging his legs nervously. "This won't take too long okay Peter, no need to worry." He started by testing the toddlers reflexes and checking if Peter had any pain remaining from his rapid de-aging. He checked his ears and chuckled along with Tony and the boy himself as he checked his heartbeat causing the boy to almost squawk as the cold medal touched his chest. Within ten minutes or so he only had one test left and knew it would probably cause tears, with a glance at Tony he knew the man was aware what was to come.

Tony put his hands under his child's armpits and pulled him back onto his lap hugging him close knowing the needle Bruce was about to use to take blood would probably cause tears. As he expected as soon as Peter laid eyes on the syringe in Bruce's hand he shrunk into Tony's chest and tears came to his eyes.

"Hey Petey, this is the last thing, you'll get pancakes afterwards remember" Tony murmured to the child bouncing him slightly to try and calm him. Knowing the boy would get worked up if the blood wasn't taken soon he decided distracting him was probably his best option. "Peter you know I am Iron Man yes? Can you tell me about the avengers?" He knew Peter's answer would probably mention the rogues, a subject which was still sore for him but he knew big Peter idolised the avengers so it was likely three year old Peter was the same.

Peter launches into his answer "there's Daddy, Captain 'Merica, Hawkeyes, Black Widow, Thow, Hulk an there's Waw Machine! Hulk and Bruce same, Nat big spider. Unca Rhodey waw machine!"

While listening to Peter babble on Bruce readies his syringe and inserts it into Peter's elbow as Tony cups the boy's head preventing him from turning to look at what Bruce is doing. Seconds later Bruce has the blood he needs and removes the syringe placing it in the labs fridge out of Peter's view, Peter who is still talking about the Avengers. "All done Pete, well done you!"

Peter looks up a Bruce in shock eyes wide unable to believe he had taken blood without him even noticing! He looks from Bruce to his arm which now has a plaster on it. "Spida-man!" he shouts turning back to Tony jumping slightly in excitement.

Tony peers down at the cute child in his arms and ruffles his hair. "That's right Peter Pan. Spiderman. You were such a brave boy for Bruce and you know what brave boys get?" he asks with a grin.

"Blueberry pancakes!" the child cheers practically leaping off the bed and running towards the elevator causing both men to jump to their feet and run after him. Peter had barely been awake an hour and already they were running to keep up, Tony had the feeling the next week was going to be exhausting.


	21. Day One

Tony watched fondly as Peter sat at the table barely able to see over the top of it devouring his fifth pancake. He had briefly wondered whether Peter still had his spider powers, with the amount the kid was eating it certainly looked like he still did, how such a tiny body could eat so much was honestly astonishing.

"Can I have 'nother daddy?"

Tony turned to look at the toddler raising an eyebrow at him, "what's the magic word Pete?"

"Pwease Daddy, can I have 'nother pancake"

Ruffling the boys hair Tony gave him another, boxes of supplies for the boy had arrived not ten minutes before and he really wanted to look through them but always eating at the table was a rule for big Peter so he had to ensure little Peter followed it too, and leaving the boy alone obviously wasn't an option.

Ten minutes later Peter had gone through another two pancakes and finally seemed to be finished eating. "C'mon little man let's go get you some clothes on," Tony told the boy who seemed eager to wear something other than Tony's too big shirt.

Pepper blinked when she entered the lounge unable to comprehend what she was seeing. Tony was kneeling on the floor hair a mess from running his hand through it in frustration holding a t-shirt in his hand. Peter was stood looking at the man arms crossed over his chest, wearing nothing but a pair of underwear.

Hearing her entrance Tony turned to look at his fiancée beseechingly. "Help me, he refuses to put clothes on. It's been ten minutes."

Pepper walks into the room fully and kneels down to be eye level with the boy she sees as her own. "Hey, Peter whats the problem? It's not nice being difficult for daddy, he's trying to help you, you can't walk around dressed in only your shorts baby." Her heart melts as Peter immediately looks down ashamed and digs his foot into the floor, his answer is so quiet she hardly hears him.

"Don't wike it."

"The t-shirt?" At the boy's nod she turns to look at her lover. "Did you let him choose Tony"

"I just took the top one! He's three Pep!" The man splutters confusion all over his face.

Turning back to her boy she looks into his eyes "Okay, you can choose what you wear Peter, I'll give you three shirts to pick from. But if you have a problem you have to use your words okay darling?" She pulls him into a hug at her words and almost misses his response.

"Yes mummy" She makes eye contact with Tony over the child's shoulder and sees tears in his eyes. She gives the child in her arms an extra squeeze before letting him go.

Five minutes later Peter is dressed. He has on soft black sweatpants and a light blue t-shirt with a dinosaur on the front, Tony's face when Peter had chosen that shirt over the Iron Man one was priceless!

While Pepper dressed Peter Tony called Bruce and Nat up to the penthouse to give him some help unpacking Peter's new toys and clothes. The two had wanted to stay afterwards but Bruce had to get in contact with Thor and Nat had been called into a meeting at SHIELD.

"What do you want to do then Pete?" Tony asks the adorable child sitting next to him on the couch.

"Paint"

"Good choice. Let's go to the table then, and you need an apron you don't want to ruin your new clothes after all."

Peter nods and sprints into the kitchen where Pepper helps him put an apron on, she had taken the full day off to be with Peter and reduced her meetings for the next week to make the most of the time they had together.

Within minutes Tony regrets allowing Peter to paint, the child was a menace! Sure Peter looked to be having the time of his life but he was covered in paint, thank god for that apron. The boy even had paint in his hair. Pepper had decided not to join in with the painting and Tony couldn't help but envy her slightly, she stood a bit away from the table camera in hand and notably totally paint free. Tony on the other hand was covered in paint, Peter had tried to hug Tony while covered in paint but hit the man in the face in his excitement. The little monster just giggled too!

Peter was in his element. He loved to paint, he had more paint here than May had, he had blue, red, yellow, green and pink but he didn't like pink so didn't use it…apart from in his picture for mummy because she wears pink shoes so must like it. He had done three pictures already, one for mummy with pink flowers, one for Dr Buce an' one for daddy, his one for daddy was his favourite it had mummy an' daddy an' Peter in it!

Tony looked at the painting which was still slightly wet that Peter was trying to force into his hands. He suddenly understood why some of his scientists had pictures drawn by their kids in their labs or on their desks, Peter's picture was a work of art. He knew he was probably grinning like an idiot but he couldn't find it within himself to care. "Let's leave this to dry Pete, then I'll put it on the fridge, how does that sound?" The child threw himself into his arms, he's take that as a 'that sounds good'. He turned to glare playfully at Pepper as she let out a laugh seeing Tony's high-end shirt covered in bright yellow paint.

"How about you two take a bath and I'll make us some lunch."

Tony nodded and stood still holding his son in his arms…he didn't want paint over the entire penthouse which he was sure would happen if he left Peter to walk to the bathroom. "C'mon then Peter Pan, let's get cleaned up then we can have PB and J sandwiches," he told the child as he jiggled him around in his arms slightly making him giggle loudly.

If Tony had known bathing a toddler would be so difficult he would probably have asked Pepper for help. Here he was, still covered in paint and sopping wet as his boy laughed at him from inside the tub. "Peter stop splashing me, you need to get washed so I can get clean after"

"Daddy in."

"No Peter I'm not getting in, I will after"

Unsurprisingly Tony did eventually fall victim to his son's doe eyes and ended up joining him in the tub still wearing his boxers. Peter looked adorable, he had been attempting to copy Tony's goatee with bubbles before trying to give the man himself a bubble beard.

"Come on you little monster, let's get washed up"

He grabbed the children's shampoo Pepper had ordered for them and gently washed the boy's curls being careful not to get any in his eyes. He made quick work of washing the child's hair but that then led to Peter wanting to return the favour and Tony trying not to swear when the kid got shampoo into his eyes.

"Hold out your hands Pete" he squeezed shower gel into the boy's hands as he took some for himself. "Go on then get washed Bambi, I don't want to see any paint on you at all." His eyes crinkled as he watched Peter mimic Tony's movements, he had never felt more like a dad than he did in that moment as his son copied him.

Her boys had been in the bathroom now for over half an hour, it was getting ridiculous, how long did a bath take? She had made their lunch and even cut up some carrots and left them in the fridge should Peter want a snack later. Sighing to herself she made her way to the bathroom knocking once before walking in. She was still holding her phone in her hand and snapped a quick photo at the scene before Tony could react to her presence and stop her.

Her fiancé was in the bath with their son playing some sort of war game with toy boats and rubber ducks. Both of them looked carefree and laughed without worry, she felt bad having to break it up to be honest. "Come on boys, lunch time" She grabbed a towel and pulled Peter from the bath laughing as we groaned in frustration at her actions. "Don't be like that Pete, you can have your lunch then we can call Aunt May, how does that sound?"

"May, May" the boy screeched trying to run from her arms still sopping wet.

"Let me dry you first baby, we have plenty of time to call May"

Peter hardly sat still throughout his lunch he was so eager to speak to his Aunt May but Pepper was firm and made sure he ate at least two sandwiches and a yogurt before he left the table.

Two minutes later the family of three was sat on a couch in the lounge facing the TV. "Call May Parker Fri"

May answered as soon as her phone rang and immediately brought a hand to her mouth in shock. There was her Peter, a toddler again. Sure Tony had told her what had happened but seeing it with her own eyes was something else. The child looked adorable, his curls making him look angelic, but she had raised the boy from the age of four and knew he could be an absolute terror when he wanted to be. "Hello, Petey what have you been up to?"

At his aunt's question Peter began to babble. "I woke up in the funny room an' Doc Buce looked in my eyes an' mouth. And I had pancakes with daddy…"

At the boy's words May looked at Tony who was avoiding eye contact clearly uncomfortable. "Tony, Tony I spoke to him a few days ago about it. I don't mind if he calls you dad. I know my place in his life it's fine, the same for you Pepper, Peter loves you both. He would have called you those names soon anyway this incident just sped it up."

Peter huffed, he was supposed to be talking to May! She was meant to look at him! Why was she talking to Daddy? "I'm still hewe May" he whined making the woman chuckle and turn back to him.

"Of course you are baby, sorry I shouldn't have interrupted you, what did you do after breakfast?"

"Painteded"

"Painted" Pepper corrected the boy smoothly, it didn't matter if Peter would only be a baby for a week she would make sure he spoke correctly, who knew if there would be some sort of carry over into his teenage life if she didn't?

"That…and I painteded Daddy, me an' Mummy. An' flowers an' Doc Buce.. Then I had a bath. An' played war boats ducks with daddy."

May nodded along as he spoke relaxing as he did so. Teenage Peter could be so solemn at times, he had a lot on his plate what with Spiderman, school, his internship…sure he loved all those things but sometimes she wished he took more time to just have fun. She looked up at the clock in her room and sighed, she would have to go unfortunately her shift started in half an hour.

"Pete, it's time I have to go, I'll call again in a few days."

Peter's face drops at her words and she feels horrible but she doesn't really have a choice. "Now be a good boy for mummy and daddy okay?" After she receives a nod from her boy she turns back to the two adults either side of him. "Thank you so much for this, I don't know what I would do without you. Take lots of photos and don't let him walk all over you he can be a terror at mealtimes, if you have any problems I'm just a call away."

The small family spend the rest of the afternoon playing with Peter's new toys just enjoying each other's company. By quarter past seven Tony and Pepper are both exhausted and thrilled Peter seems to be as well. He goes down easily without fuss which surprises them both, he had been running around all day they expected him to be too excited about his new situation to go to bed. But he willingly climbed into his bed wearing his new Iron Man pyjamas….this time all three choices were Iron Man and settled down as Tony read him a story.

Tony had barely read five pages when he looked up to see his child sound asleep clutching a small tiger to his chest. He stood up to leave wrapping his arm around his fiancée as he did so, they would have time for a movie or something now Peter was in bed. With both of them working so much it was honestly rare to get an evening just the two of them, they weren't too bothered for dates but sometimes a romantic evening was needed. "Tell me if Peter has any problems Fri" he ordered as he left the room ensuring the bedroom door was left open a crack in case Peter woke up scared of the dark in the night.


	22. Nightmares

"Boss, Mr Parker appears to be in distress"

Tony took a moment to register the words which roused him from his sleep but as soon as he realised what was being said he sat bolt upright in bed. He swung his legs out the bed and practically ran to the child's room terrified of what he would find. Was someone else in the tower? Was Peter hurt?

He burst into the room and immediately saw the problem. Peter was covered in sweat and tangled in his duvet crying out in his sleep. "Nooo…leabe me 'lone, it's dark…hurts…scared…"

Tony rushed over to his child and perched on the edge of his bed before beginning to run his fingers through the boy's sweaty locks. "Hey, Pete, it's just a bad dream, daddy's here. Wake up." It breaks his heart seeing the boy in such distress, how long had this been going on? Peter was often tired, was it nightmares that kept him awake? Peter soon wakes but doesn't fully register his surroundings as he begins sobbing in terror. Sighing to himself Tony lifts the child up onto his lap pulling his head against his own chest so the kid could hear his heartbeat. "C'mon underoos, you'll make yourself sick if you keep crying like this." He rubs the toddlers back gently murmuring reassurances into his ear, within five minutes the heart-breaking sobs have died down to the occasional hiccup and he knows he will have to question Peter.

"Peter, what was that? Do you get nightmares a lot?" He sighs as the boy nods into his chest refusing to meet his eyes. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Not a baby" The child muttered into his arms quietly, so quietly Tony had to strain to hear him.

At those words Tony pulled the child away from his chest and looked into his eyes. They were red and swollen from crying, the child looked pathetic and it was amongst the worst things he had ever seen. This was his child, who had been having nightmares for god knows how long and hadn't told him. How often did teenage Peter wake up screaming and then lie in bed crying with no one to soothe him.

"Peter, listen to me. Having nightmares doesn't make you weak, I have nightmares, you've seen scary things, it's understandable. But you need to tell me when you have a problem, okay buddy? Daddy can't make anything better if you don't tell me what the problem is."

The little boy nods again and puts his thumb into his mouth as he burrows back into the elders chest. Tony knows he will probably have to speak to teenage Peter about this, the best way to reduce nightmares was to talk about them after all. He would also have to get F.R.I.D.A.Y. to monitor the boy's sleep every night and wake him if Peter was in distress. If his son was in trouble, he wanted to be there for him, whether it was trouble as Spiderman or trouble in his sleep.

He stayed sitting on Peter's bed for another ten minutes rubbing circles into the boy's back to keep him calm. "What were you dreaming about?"

He thought the boy was going to ignore him at first but then he heard him take a deep breath, undoubtedly to steel himself for what was to come. "Vulture…big meanie…building fall on big me, scared, dark, all 'lone daddy. No one there…no help." Peter spoke into the man's chest and he could feel tears on his bare chest.

"Peter…I'll not let that happen again, that was my fault, okay. You should have had help, and I wasn't there for you. I'm sorry baby boy, listen to me, I won't let that happen again." He spoke directly into the boy's ear as he gently rocked him in an effort to calm him down. His back hurt from the uncomfortable angle he was sitting at and he could see the goose bumps on his arms from the cold air but he would stay in that position all night if that was what his son wanted.

He looked down at the boy in his arms, Peter's arms were wrapped around his neck tightly as if he was afraid Tony would disappear if he loosened his grip. He moved his own arm to slide it under the child's bum to pull him closer and sighed, he had been so preoccupied with calming the boy he hadn't noticed he had wet himself in his sleep. Tony knew it was from the nightmare and didn't know how to address the topic. The child would be embarrassed but he needed to get him clean and into dry clothes before letting him go back to sleep.

"Pete, you've had an accident, you'll need to have a quick bath okay" As he expected Peter sniffled as he nodded, he was clearly embarrassed at what had happened, he could see the tips of the boys ears redden after all. "Hey there, no need to be embarrassed, it's normal baby, you had a scary dream." He knew Peter probably wasn't taking his words in but he would repeat them as often as he had to for the child to understand.

Pepper entered the room at just that moment, she hadn't been woken by F.R.I.D.A.Y's alert but had woken up cold not long after as Tony's body heat was no longer there to keep her warm. She had thrown on a dressing gown over her pyjamas and headed to their sons room. One look at the scene in front of her and she knew what to do. "Tony, go and get him washed up, I'll change the sheets." She told her fiancé as she ran her hands through Peter's hair and pressed a kiss to his forehead when the child turned towards her when he heard her voice.

Ten minutes later Tony had managed to wash the toddler, which had been extremely difficult as he had quite literally stuck his hands together to prevent Tony letting go of him. He walked back into the boy's bedroom and easily caught the pyjamas Pepper threw at him. He couldn't help the small laugh that escaped him at the Iron Man pyjamas, it was probably very egotistical of him, but the boy was just too cute and that only increased when he was wearing Iron Man themed clothing.

Tony walked over to the newly clean bed and tried to put Peter in it but the child refused to relinquish his hold on Tony. "C'mon Peter, it's time you got back to sleep, I'll be right back if you have any more bad dreams okay." No matter what he said the child wouldn't let go though and kept muttering "don't leave me" into his ear.

"Peter I won't fit in your bed, it's for little boys. I promise I'll be back if you have a bad dream bud" He now regretted buying the toddler bed for the child, they had been worried the usual one teenage Peter used would be too high and he could be hurt falling out of it. There was no way Tony could fit onto the tiny bed they had bought for the boy, just perching on the edge was difficult. He felt like a monster as the boy sobbed into his chest, Peter yawned but he knew trying to let go of him would probably result in a meltdown, he turned to look at his fiancée with a raised eyebrow.

"Hey Petey, do you want to sleep in mummy and daddy's bed?"

Tony openly gaped at her words, he didn't have a problem with Peter coming into their bed, he would hardly take up any space after all.

Peter nodded at the offer. He knew big him would have said no, but he was scared and tired and wanted mummy and daddy.

At the boys agreement Tony once again tightened his grip on the child and walked back towards his own bedroom. Entering the master bedroom he walked straight over to the kingsize bed and was surprised when Peter loosened his grip on him without needing to ask. He dropped the child down in the centre of the bed, and gosh did he look cute. The boy was dwarfed in the massive bed and he couldn't help the grin on his face as he watched Pepper climb in next to the toddler.

Pepper sighed in contentment as she felt the bed dip when Tony got into bed on the other side of Peter and immediately threw his arm over the boy and her.

"Night Pep, night Petey" he mumbled after several moments of quiet but all he got in response was the deep breathing of the two most important people in his life, asleep in his arms.


	23. Raspberries, Lego and Broccoli

Peter woke up confused, he had never woken in such a comfortable place before and there was a strange weight over him stopping him from getting up. He whined lowly in his throat and tried to wriggle out of whatever was holding him down but couldn't help freezing when a voice spoke up right behind him. "Pepper…not now…it's too early…five more minutes"

He knew that voice! The boy turned over and smiled widely seeing his dad still asleep behind him, he seemed to have mumbled his complaint half asleep and gone straight back under. Well Peter couldn't have that, he was awake…why wasn't daddy?

Tony swore to himself in his mind, what was Pepper's problem? He was still exhausted so it couldn't be the morning yet…what could she possibly want? He groaned audibly when a hand began poking him which he tried to sleepily bat away. The man froze when the only response was a high pitched giggle…that certainly wasn't Pepper. He peeled his eyes open to see a small finger mere millimetres from his eyeball. "Peter if you dare poke me in the eye you will be in trouble." Tony couldn't help the snort that escaped him when Peter pulled his hand back inhumanely fast with a squeak. "Go back to sleep, Pete it's not time to get up yet."

Peter looked up into his daddy's eyes confused. He was awake and now daddy was awake of course it was time to get up.

Tony sighed as he looked at the boy now half lying across his chest. "Pete…it's not time to get up yet, mummy's still asleep." His words just earned him a confused look, "Pete you know we do what mummy tells us, mummy's the boss, and she's asleep so it can't be time to get up yet." Honestly not his best work but he had barely been awake a minute and had only had four hours sleep across the last two days, luckily that seemed to be enough to convince the toddler cuddling him who immediately stopped moving. "Go to sleep Peter Pan" he mumbled already halfway back to sleep himself as he kissed the boys curly hair fondly.

The next time Tony awoke he felt considerably more rested. Peter was still lying across him his head resting on his chest where the arc reactor once sat and his mouth wide open. Tony wrinkled his nose when he saw the line of drool leaking out the boy's mouth onto his own bare chest. A chuckle to his right tore his eyes from the boy.

"He definitely got that from you"

Tony snorted at her words but couldn't really deny them. He reached his free arm out to pull her close and immediately gave her lips a peck. Then another, he was just leaning in for a third when a hand smacked him in the face.

"Ewwww….no….daddy stop ewwww…..mummy"

He looked at the suddenly very awake boy on his chest with an eyebrow raised. "What's ewww Pete?" he couldn't supress his snort of amusement as Peter made kissy faces at him. "Is me kissing mummy disgusting?" At the boys nod he moves quickly. He rolls over careful not to crush the boy in his arms so he is leaning over Peter who now cannot move due to Tony's arms boxing him in. The man leans down and plants a kiss on the boy's nose receiving a groan from the boy. "Is this ewww Pete?" He leans down and blows a raspberry onto the child's belly which had been exposed by all his wriggling.

Peter starts laughing uncontrollably as his daddy's goatee tickles his stomach. His legs kick wildly as he tries to get away.

"Still ewww Petey?"

"No…no… not ewww Daddy…not ewww" he gasps.

Tony immediately stops and leans over to kiss Pepper again earning another groan from the boy below him. "Right c'mon, breakfast time." he cries jumping out of bed and pulling Peter into his arms.

"Pancakes!"

"You bet Peter Pan"

ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ

Several hours later Tony finds himself lying on his stomach in the lounge building a castle with Lego under Peter's direction. Pepper had several meetings that afternoon and had to leave which had led to a minor meltdown from Peter until Tony bribed him with Lego. He knew three year olds probably weren't meant to use such small toys but Peter seemed to have something of big Peter still in him and didn't appear inclined to put the blocks in his mouth. He watched Peter fondly as he built whatever he was building with ease, he kept complaining Tony was 'doing it wrong' resulting in Tony simply watching as Peter played. The child was adorable, his face kept scrunching up in frustration when pieces didn't go together as he wanted them too and he kept mumbling to himself. Tony wished he could freeze time in this moment, no worries, no stress, just watching his son have fun as they waited for the love of his life to come home for dinner.

It was as if his thoughts summoned her. At the very moment Pepper walked in, Tony was sure Peter must have heard the elevator coming up because there was no way a three year old could move that fast. He watched as Pep was nearly bowled over with the force Peter knocked into her legs.

Once she regained her balance Pepper pulled the child up into her arms and planted a kiss to his forehead as he excitedly told her about his day. She walked over to the couch and simply sat and listened treasuring the moment as her lover prepared dinner.

"Come on Pete, time to get washed up for dinner." She told him half an hour later, the boy was practically glued to the television, she had no idea what he was watching to be honest, but parental lock was still turned on so she wasn't worried. "Peter." She repeated when he didn't move. At the third repetition she walked over and knelt next to the boy taking his chin in her hand. "Peter, it's time to get washed up for dinner, I shouldn't have to ask three times, I know you heard me." Luckily that seemed to be enough and the boy jumped up with a quick apology and dashed to the bathroom to get washed up. She followed behind, teenage Peter always managed to get water on the floor when washing up for dinner she didn't want to give three year old Peter any opportunity to make more of a mess.

Peter grumpily stabbed at the food on his plate as if that would make it disappear. Mummy and daddy had finished already and were watching him with stern eyes. "I'm full" he whined for the fifth time as he moved the dreaded broccoli around his plate.

Tony pinched his nose in exasperation, this had been going on for far too long and his nerves were frayed. "Peter. You know you have to eat all your dinner, we gave you three pieces of broccoli and that was all, now be a big boy and eat them, then you can go back to your Lego."

Peter continued swinging his legs back and forth. He hated broccoli. It was green and nasty and looked like a tree. He hated broccoli. "No." he said pushing the plate away.

Pepper could see Tony was close to snapping at the boy and Peter was equally as stubborn. "Peter you don't have to eat the broccoli…" she held up a hand as Peter let out a cheer and Tony rounded on her angrily, "…but if you don't finish your broccoli you will have to go straight to bed, no movie with Bruce and Nat…straight to bed…you choose." She had never seen anyone eat broccoli as quickly as Peter did following her words. "Good boy."

ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ

That night Tony laid an exhausted Peter down in his bedroom. "If you have any bad dreams, come to mummy and daddy's room okay Petey? You don't need to be alone." He would be alerted as soon as Peter showed signs of distress but he hoped by reinforcing the message to toddler Peter the teenage version would also seek comfort rather than suffering through night terrors alone.

Sure enough, several hours later Tony was awoken by F.R.I.D.A.Y. and lay in bed for a few minutes to see if Peter would come to them. He kept his eyes shut as he heard his bedroom door swing open, he had left it ajar for the child and could feel the boy's eyes resting on him, he was clearly debating whether or not to climb into the bed. Tony simply lifted an arm and smiled as the child jumped up without a second thought and settled himself down between his parents. The three year old was asleep in minutes.


	24. The Return of Big Peter

**A/N Two chapters in one day! This one is shorter than usual however, it will probably just be a one-off.**

 **-EmptyFridges**

Tony ran his free hand through his hair as he sat on a chair next to Peter's bed the other was stroking the kid's curls. The boy's normal bed was back. Thor had retrieved the antidote quicker than Bruce had anticipated so Peter could be returned to his proper age this evening after only five days as a child as opposed to the originally predicted week.

The last five days would stay with him forever and made him somehow love Peter more than he had before. He had taken hundreds of photos of the boy: covered in flour after an attempt at baking, swimming with Pepper, crawling across the ceiling…and wasn't that a terrifying moment. He even had a photo of Peter in floods of tears stuck to the wall as a result of seeing a spider…sure Pepper had scolded him something fierce for not helping the boy immediately but it was going to be perfect blackmail material for teenage Peter.

Pepper looked down at Peter, he looked tiny in the large bed and scared. "Peter there's no need to worry, we will be here when you wake up, you'll be able to go back to school tomorrow and see Ned and MJ." Her words seemed to have some effect as Peter's lips quirked upwards but he still looked nervous. Pepper got herself into the bed next to Peter and pulled his head into her lap taking Tony's place running her fingers through his hair.

When Bruce entered the room he couldn't help himself and snapped a final photo of the family with young Peter. Pepper was sitting with the boy's head on her lap soothing him as Tony sat on a chair next to the bed holding his son's hand. Bruce knew Peter was afraid of needles but there was nothing he could do, the only way to administer the antidote was through a shot. "Hey Pete, I need you to be a brave boy for me can you do that?" he asked the clearly scared boy. "It'll only feel funny for a second then you'll fall straight to sleep"

Peter looked up at Bruce. He was scared and really didn't want a shot but he wanted to go back to school more. He wanted to see Ned and MJ and go back down to the labs with the other interns, he wanted to go out as Spiderman again. With those thoughts at the forefront of his mind he nodded.

Tony unconsciously rubbed his thumb over the back of Peter's hand to soothe him. Bruce had just injected him and the boy would fall asleep soon. He was afraid. Would Peter remember the five days they had had together? Would he still call him Dad or would he go back to Tony? Could he bear going back to Tony? He was startled from his thoughts by mumbled words from the boy in the bed "Love you mummy, love you daddy."

"Love you too Pete" the two reply almost in unison as they look down at their child.

ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ

Peter felt strange when he woke up. His whole body ached, he supposed that was unsurprising though, he did age twelve years overnight after all. He gave himself a second to centre himself before he opened his eyes. He was definitely on a bed but his head was not resting on a pillow, he could also feel a weight at the bottom of the bed next to his feet. Opening his eyes he immediately saw Pepper above him, asleep. Her back was resting against his headboard and her hand was still in his hair, he was afraid to move in case he woke her so just moved his eyes to see what the weight at his feet was. He gasped slightly at the sight, logically he should have known it was Tony, the man had hardly left his side when he had the flu, so he was unlikely to leave him when he was being aged twelve years in as many hours.

"Tony."

Tony's head whipped up at his name. He had been dozing but was not fully asleep and his eyes lit up as Peter spoke. He slid off the bed and sat on the chair he had been on previously as he pressed his hand to his son's forehead. "How do you feel? Headache? Should I get Bruce? I'll call Bruce anyway."

"Tony…Tony" Peter tried to interrupt the man's babbling. "Tony…Dad!" Tony fell silent at the name and Peter blushed. "Dad, I'm fine, I feel fine honest. Well my legs hurt a little but that's all, probably just growing pains."

Tony snorted "you told me you were fine when you had that concussion." Peter opened his mouth to argue but the man powered on "and that time you broke your arm. Your version of fine couldn't be further from mine son." He watched as Peter's face lit up at the endearment his eyes wide with wonder. "Pete. I would be honoured if you called me dad and Pep feels the same, but you don't have to. I know May spoke to you about this but it's up to you."

Peter nodded his head "Dad feels right."

"I'm glad."

Pepper was woken sometime later by her boy's voices. Their murmured conversation drew her from sleep slowly and she felt Peter tense then immediately relax as she began running her fingers through his hair once more. "Peter." She said still not opening her eyes "leave your hair natural more often, I prefer the curls."

"Yes mom"

Her eyes shot open at his words and were met with two grinning faces. "I assume Bruce has already seen you?" she asked the boy and receiving a nod she continued. "Okay then, Tony go make breakfast, pancakes good for both of you? While he does that Peter you get in the shower then you young man are going to school, there's plenty of time for you to make it there. You have missed enough school lately we don't want your grades to fall."

Peter opened his mouth in indignation fully prepared to argue but was met with a raised eyebrow from the woman above him, he swallowed his words. "Of course mom."

"Good boy," she said and ruffled his hair just as she had when he was a toddler. He thought he should feel embarrassed and too old for such a gesture but he leaned into the touch regardless, it made him feel loved.


	25. Family Meeting

Peter had been back to his normal age for two weeks and Tony still couldn't help the grin that spread across his face every time the boy called him dad. He had been worried Pete would be embarrassed about how he acted as a toddler and pull away from himself and Pep but it seemed the opposite had happened. The boy had no issue with them running their hands through his hair or pulling him close when they sat watching a film, he also never pulled away when Pepper kissed his head before school every morning. But still he was worried. He knew Peter was still having nightmares but he refused to speak about them, May was due home in a few days and he wanted to address the issue before Peter returned to living in Queens half the week.

Tony decided the best way to get Peter to talk about it was to simply force the issue, the first few times F.R.I.D.A.Y. woke him up to tell him Peter was in distress he had left the boy hoping he would come to them but it didn't happen. After that he went to Peter's room and held him close until he stopped crying but the boy still refused to talk and the nightmares continued. Tony knew he rarely fell back to sleep after a nightmare and it was clear to see, the bags under Pete's eyes had bags. It had been two weeks now though and enough was enough he would not let the boy continue to suffer needlessly. Pepper, May, Rhodey and even Nat had tried to speak to him about his obvious exhaustion but he had just shrugged it off and tried to say he was fine. Peter was not fine.

Also Peter's stubbornness over the nightmares was beginning to have a knock on effect, Tony had received an email from Midtown that morning telling him Peter's grades were falling, this could easily be explained away by the days he missed when he was ill and while he was a toddler but the email also mentioned a poor work ethic and disrespectful behaviour in class. He had also been sassing back to both Tony and Pepper much more than usual in the past few days to the point it was bordering on insolence. Similarly Gregor had reported Peter's internship work wasn't up to his usual standards and Karen had told him Peter was becoming reckless in the suit. So yeah, it was past time he spoke to the kid.

Tony was sitting on the couch waiting for Peter to come home from school, Pepper had rearranged her schedule after hearing about the email from Peter's school and would also be back shortly so they could discuss the issue as a family. Tony had asked May if she wanted to be part of the conversation but she had a shift that evening and believed all three of them sitting Peter down to discuss things would probably just make him defensive rather than open with them.

Peter felt uneasy. Usually when he stepped into the elevator FRIDAY would ask what floor he wanted to go to but today he just received a greeting and the elevator began climbing immediately. His spidey sense was quiet so he knew he wasn't in danger so he racked his brains tying to think of anything he had done in the last few days that could get him in trouble, why else would he have to go to the penthouse immediately? He couldn't think of anything in particular though, sure he was slightly short with his dad the evening before but if Tony was going to mention it he would have brought it up straight away, his Spanish grade had dropped to a C- but there was no way his parents could know about that already, he himself only found out today after all. His mind was still racing when the elevator finally stopped at the penthouse and he couldn't help his nervous swallow when he laid eyes on his mum and dad sitting side by side on the couch, the opposite one clearly left for himself.

"Why don't you take a seat Peter?" Peter knew his dad wasn't asking despite how he may have worded it, he did however notice that he wasn't being sent to the office so maybe he wasn't in trouble.

Tony watched as Peter perched himself on the edge of the couch, the boy was clearly nervous and confused with no idea what was going on. "Peter we need to talk about you sleeping habits." He watched as his son's face closed off completely at his words.

"What about them, I'm sleeping fine."

Pepper responded to the boy's defensive words without missing a beat. "Peter, there's no need to hide, we know you are having nightmares but you need help if you want them to get better. You need to talk about them. We let it go for the last two weeks and that was a mistake on our part. Your lack of sleep is seeping into the rest of your life."

Peter scoffed and looked at them with challenge in their eyes. "No it isn't. I'm fine, my grades are fine, Spiderman's fine."

Tony arched a brow at the boy's blatant lie and help up a hand to stop him. "Peter. Your grades are falling, you internship work is not to its usual standard, Nat says you've been sloppy in training with her, you're receiving more injuries as Spiderman than usual and your behaviour both at home and school is deteriorating. So before you try to lie to us again think about that." He watched as Peter blanched as his problems were practically shoved in his face. Tony softened his voice as he continued. "Pete, asking for help doesn't make you weak, we are all worried about you."

Peter nodded at his dad's words trying to push down the lump in his throat. "I'm sorry about the nightmares."

Pepper sighed and moved across to sit next to her son "Pete…you don't need to apologize for the nightmares, they are not your fault okay, it's normal to have nightmares after a traumatic experience but you have to speak to someone."

Peter nodded once again and thought for a moment. Who should he speak to? Clearly May was out she would worry too much and probably ban him from being Spiderman for life and there was no way he would speak to a therapist about anything.

Pepper could see the indecision on Peter's face and decided in this situation it was probably best she just chose for him. "Pete speak to Tony, I'll go any get us something sorted for dinner okay. You will not be going out as Spiderman again until you have got this off your chest, you are putting yourself in danger going out as exhausted as you are."

Peter sighed at her words but couldn't help the small smile that came to his face as she took the decision from his hands, it was much easier to simply be told what to do sometimes.

Tony waited until Pepper left the room before moving to take her place next to Peter and throw his arm round his shoulder. "So Pete, hit me."

"Dad…I don't really know what to say."

Tony sighed, he supposed just straight up asking was a bit easy. "When you were a toddler Pete you woke up screaming but you managed to get back to sleep, do you know why? You didn't tell us what your dreams were about then but you got back to sleep again every night." He hadn't expected a blush to cover Peter's face at his words. The boy had turned red as a tomato and Tony was bewildered.

Ugh this was so embarrassing. This was exactly why I didn't want to talk, Peter thought to himself frustrated. "You'll laugh." He mumbled almost too quiet for Tony to hear him.

"Peter. I promise I won't laugh at you, I need you to be able to sleep I'm worried, we're all worried, whatever it is I'll do my very best to help you."

"I fell asleep because I was in your bed." Peter blurted out after a moments pause studiously avoiding eye contact.

Tony's heart broke at his boy's words. "Peter there's no need to be embarrassed, you are welcome to come into our room if you have a nightmare, it's fine. We encourage it, I would rather you share our bed than not sleep. And when you're at May's call me okay, you know I don't sleep all that much, I can help you get back to sleep. Hell. I'll fly to Queens if I have to Pete."

Peter nodded still not looking at his dad.

Tony knew Peter was avoiding looking at him and knew he probably wouldn't come to their room of his own initiative, at least at first so was already mentally planning to carry the teen there next time he woke from a nightmare, which would likely be that very night. "Okay, so that will help you get back to sleep, but what are you dreaming about Peter? How long have you been having these dreams?"

"A few months." Peter answered ignoring the first question completely.

"A few months…a few months" Tony mumbled largely to himself. "The Vulture! Is that what you are dreaming about?" The shaky nod he gets in response is answer enough.

Peter takes a breath, gathering his courage, now Tony knows part of what his nightmares are about he just wants to tell him everything. "I dream…I dream I'm stuck under that warehouse. And I'm alone and stuck, and no one is there."

Tony pales dramatically as it hits him, he had never asked Peter for a full rundown of what happened homecoming night after all. He pulled the teen tight into his chest and soon felt his t-shirt dampen from Peter's tears. "Shhh…you're fine Peter, I'm here. Daddy's here." He reassures the boy, just as he did when Peter was a toddler he rubs soothing circles on his back to calm him down. "Pete…you should have told me." He knows nothing more needs said on the subject, at least for now and is simply content to hold his son in his arms for a while, even when the tears have stopped he continue holding him tight until the boy himself pulls away and looks up at him, a watery smile on his face.

"So I've talked…can I go on patrol now?"

Tony snorts in response and ruffles the boy's hair. "As soon as I see that C- rise to a B kiddo." He laughs as the boy pouts, clearly wondering how Tony knew about that. "Nothing gets past me son, now I believe that sounds like Pep setting the table, go get washed up."


	26. Bed Dreams

**A/N sorry for the long wait, I'll hopefully have another chapter up in the next day or two**

 **Empty Fridges**

Peter lay in bed staring at his ceiling, he was afraid to sleep or well afraid to dream anyway. Despite what Tony had told him mere hours before he was embarrassed. He knew F.R.I.D.A.Y. would probably alert his dad if he had a nightmare and there was no way he was sleeping in his parent's bed. What if someone found out? He was Spiderman, he should be able to sleep by himself, what kind of superhero was he if he couldn't even deal with his own dreams? Even if he wasn't Spiderman he was fifteen! What sort of fifteen year old needs help to fall asleep again? He could just imagine the taunts he would get at school if anyone found out. The fact his dad was Tony Stark would perhaps give him some cool points but that was unlikely to deter people like Flash who seemed to thrive on making his life miserable.

Peter sighed audibly at the thought of Flash. Sure the boy had stopped hitting him after his suspension but his words could be just as hurtful, they were even worse than before and cut to the bone. He knew he should just tell his dad but that was so embarrassing, he was practically an adult, he should be able to deal with Flash himself. Also if he told Tony the man might go all Iron Man on Flash, sure Peter didn't like the asshole but he didn't want to scar him for life, or for his dad to murder a teenager over some schoolyard taunts.

He rolled over in his bed and reached out for his phone sitting on his bedside table. After a few moments of slapping his hand uselessly on the table he managed to grab it, he may have enhanced senses but he definitely didn't have night vision, the fact he was exhausted was probably a factor as well to be honest, his spidey sense hadn't been quite as sharp as usual recently after all, he hadn't mentioned that to his dad though, he was sure the man would ban him from Spiderman otherwise. Although he was banned from Spiderman right now anyway he supposed so it probably didn't matter all that much at the moment. He tapped his phone and blinked several times as it lit up on full brightness almost blinding him.

"Your phone curfew is in place Peter" F.R.I.D.A.Y. said almost as soon as Peter tried to unlock it.

He rolled his eyes at the A.I's words. One time, one time he stayed up late the night before a test scrolling through twitter and his mum and dad flipped. Sure he had almost fallen asleep the next day during said test but that was beside the point. Pepper had refused to let him go out as Spiderman that evening so he could get a full night's sleep before his exam and when she found out his exhaustion was because of meme's she had promptly told Tony to hack Peter's phone and make it practically unusable whenever they wanted it to be. From that day onwards Peter was unable to use his phone once he had been sent to his bed, he had tried to hack into Tony's hack but that had just resulted in his phone being confiscated for a few days. Having Tony Stark as a dad was awesome but it was almost impossible to sneak anything past him.

Sighing he threw his phone down perhaps more aggressively than he should have. He was exhausted. He could feel his eyes drooping and it was becoming difficult to stay away as time went on, perhaps just a quick nap would be okay, surely if he only slept for a little while he wouldn't have time to have a nightmare. With that thought in mind he asked F.R.I.D.A.Y. to wake him up in an hour and a half. He seemed to fall asleep immediately after.

Tony stared at the ceiling deep in thought. Pepper had practically ordered him to be in bed before two am she was adamant that if he wanted Peter's sleep to improve he himself should lead by example. But it didn't matter what time he got into bed he was sure he wouldn't be able to sleep anyway, he was too worried about his son, at least in the lab he was able to distract himself, in his bed he had nothing, well he had Pepper she was currently asleep next to him. He envied her ability to sleep so peacefully, even after the mandarin incident she was able to sleep, then again she did go to a therapist after said incident.

His phone beeped and he grabbed it to take a quick look sighing when he saw it was a notification from Peter's phone to tell him the boy had tried to unlock it. He knew how Peter's mind worked and knew he would probably try to avoid sleeping but he was sure the kid would eventually drop off, his two weeks of poor sleeping had to catch up to him eventually after all.

Tony was woken from his dozing less than an hour later by his A.I.

"Peter appears to be in distress boss."

The man practically leapt out of bed ignoring Pepper's mumbled groans as his movements jostled her. He was in his son's room in seconds and his heart broke a little, like it did every time he had to wake Peter from a nightmare, the boy was tangled in his sheets moaning slightly with sweat beading on his forehead.

Tony walked across and perched on the edge of his son's bed as he began to card his fingers through his hair. "Hey Pete, I'm here, it's just a dream Petey, you need to wake up, come on." He had gone through these actions countless times but they were just as difficult now as the first time, he would do anything for this boy, but he was unable to protect him from his own mind, his own nightmares and it broke his heart. Soon Peter's struggles died down a little and he was able to manoeuvre himself so the boy was in his lap, he found Peter calmed down quicker with more body contact. He continued mumbling soothing words into his ear as the teen woke and began to sob into his chest. He tightened his hold on the boy and stood up ignoring his mumbled protests, sometimes you had to do what would help your kid even if they didn't want the help. Despite Peter being Spiderman and very in shape Tony had no difficulty carrying him back to his own room, huh maybe Rogers was onto something when he insisted Tony start exercising more and lifting weights.

By the time he made it back to his own room Pepper was awake and waiting for them with the duvet pulled back so Tony could easily drop their son onto the mattress. Tony was unsurprised when the boy immediately moved towards Pepper and curled up next to her for comfort, he watched as she made herself comfortable and threw her arm over the boy and immediately began to run her fingers through his hair soothingly to help him fall back to sleep. Tony climbed in behind Peter just as he had when the boy was a toddler and put his arm over the boy and Pepper pulling them close as if his presence alone would keep both of them safe in their slumber.

Peter was almost asleep as soon as he was placed down in his parent's giant bed but his last conscious thought was that he couldn't remember the last time he felt so safe.


	27. May's Home

Peter started when an elbow was dug into his ribs sharply. He jerked his head up from his phone to look at his best friend with a scowl.

"Dude, if you keep checking your phone every ten seconds Mr Harrington will definitely catch you, and do you really want detention today?"

Peter sighed, he knew Ned was right, he was just excited and anxious. May was due home sometime that afternoon and he couldn't wait to see her, he had spent the entire day counting down to the end of his final class so he could rush back to the tower. He had attempted to convince his dad to let him take the day off but the man was having none of it, especially when he found out Peter had double Spanish. Ugh stupid Spanish, just the thought made him feel ill, he still hadn't managed to raise his grade to a B and Tony wasn't impressed. It had only been like three days! Although he had handed in an essay during said class so it would probably be back to a B by tomorrow and to be fair it was May's first night home so he probably wouldn't have gone out patrolling anyway.

As much as he was looking forward to seeing his Aunt he couldn't help but worry. Was she really as cool with the whole mom and dad thing as she made out? Would hearing Peter say it in person make her change her mind? And would he struggle to sleep back in Queens? The last three nights he had woken up between Tony and Pepper, sure he had been embarrassed the first time and would be mortified if anyone found out but he couldn't deny the sense of safety it gave him. He was worried about going back to Queens, sure his dad said he could phone him but he didn't want to inconvenience him, he had already put up with Peter for two whole months surely he wanted a few days without him?

Another elbow drew him out of his musing and he decided he should probably at least look like he was paying attention, he was sure his parents and May would kill him if he got detention after all.

After what seemed to Peter like hours but was realistically more like thirty minutes the final bell rang and he couldn't have been happier. He grabbed his bag and was one of the first out the classroom as he rushed towards his locker. He quickly grabbed his books from his locker and began to make his way out towards the parking lot where Happy would be waiting for him when Flash stopped in front of him.

"Hey Penis. Where are you off to in such a hurry?" The boy demands rather than asks.

Keeping his head down Peter attempts to shoulder past the boy but his efforts are to no avail as Flash pushes him back. Groaning internally Peter looks up at his tormentor. "Flash, I don't have time for this."

The slightly taller boy ignores him and asks again why he is in such a hurry to leave.

"Flash, I need to go, I don't want to be late." His words are met with another scoff from the other boy. "Flash seriously leave me alone, I have my internship." Peter ends up blurting out in an attempt to get him to leave him alone.

"Sure you do Penis. I don't know why you keep trying to make out you have an internship. Everyone knows Stark Industries only takes on a few college students as interns each year. Why would an idiot like you work there?"

Peter rolls his eyes at the words he's heard from Flash a hundred times before. With a quick glance at his watch he knows it probably won't be long before Happy comes barging into the school to look for him. Realising Flash is still spouting nonsense he decides to let a little of his super strength loose and barges past the boy to sprint towards Happy's car.

"Took your time kid." Happy grumbles in way of a greeting as Peter jumps into the back seats throwing his back down next to him.

"Sorry Happy, I was chatting to Ned." He says, he knows if he mentions Flash Happy would tell his dad and he would prefer the man didn't know, he could handle Flash after all it was just words, he was totally fine.

Happy nods at the boy's words and immediately asks about his day, he knows he may act disinterested but it's sort of become their thing at this point. He drives Peter to and from Midtown almost every day, it was impossible for the boy to have not grown on him. He lets him talk, the kid's non-stop chatter used to irritate him but now he enjoys it, he's easy to chat to. "How's Spanish going kid?" he asks when Peter stops for breath.

"Ugh, Happy!" The boy responds with a roll of his eyes and exaggerated sigh. "not you as well! Every other sentence is someone asking about my Spanish grade, it was one C-. Even Uncle Rhodey sent me a text about it."

Happy laughs at the teens words. "Pete you are usually a straight A student. A C- is a big change, we only ask because we care."

Peter feels slightly bad for complaining now. "Sorry Happy, I know, it's just annoying. Yeah it's fine…well it will be fine once my essay is marked that should bring up my average."

"Good to hear it kid. So what about MJ is she sitting next to you yet at lunch or still six seats away?"

In no time at all they pulled up into one of the tower's many garages and Peter hopped out eager to see his aunt. "Peter picked a peck of pickled Pepper" he shouted as he approached the elevator. He usually mumbled it as quietly as he could due to embarrassment but he was just too excited. Plus it didn't really matter if anyone else heard him, FRIDAY scanned everyone who entered the elevators to make sure it was the correct person, Peter was convinced Tony just added the passwords to mess with people. Huh, he should maybe ask mum what hers was surely she wasn't saying a really embarrassing phrase every time she needed to go anywhere.

To Peter the elevator ride seemed to take forever, he was convinced it didn't usually take this long to get to the penthouse. He tapped his foot impatiently as he waited and couldn't help but groan as the elevator stopped several floors too low to let someone in.

"Great to see you too Pete." Bruce laughed as he walked in.

"I just want to see May" the boy whined in response earning another chuckle from the scientist.

May could hardly contain herself. She had never been away from Peter for such a long time before, video calling was good but it wasn't the same. She was perched on the edge of the couch coffee in hand opposite Pepper, Tony had just nipped away to grab a photo album full from the week Peter was a toddler. A year ago she couldn't have imagined such a situation in her wildest dreams but now it seemed almost normal, they had somehow become sort of strange family, all because of her amazing nephew.

The doors opened a Peter couldn't help but grin widely as he stepped out the elevator with a shouted "I'm home!" As he said the words his eyes connected with his aunts who had stood up as soon as she heard the doors open, he didn't waste a second as he ran over to her arms outstretched.

"Hey baby." She murmured as she pulled the boy in close. After several seconds of just relishing being together again she pulled back and took her nephews face in her hands. "You look better Pete, are you sleeping better?" She grinned widely at his nod "Glad to hear it baby. It's good to be back I've missed you."

Peter nodded in agreement and his eyes widened as he saw Tony re-entering the room with a book in his hand. "Dad!" he groaned. "Nooo, you can't just show everyone that book, it's embarrassing you already have photos of me as a toddler everywhere anyway." He continued gesturing towards the photo frames dotted around the room.

"I'll think you find I can. Why wouldn't I show everyone how cute my son is?" Tony responded laughing at the expression on the teen's face. "Come on sit down, May wants to see them."

With a put upon sigh Peter drops down next to his dad on the couch snuggling in close as he throws an arm over his shoulder and passes the album towards him so May can see from Peter's other side.

Pepper smiles as she watches the three of them sitting opposite her totally absorbed in the album between them. It had been almost half an hour and they were still engrossed. She knew Tony was trying to keep both May and Peter here as long as possible, he had been anxious for several days about Peter leaving even if it was only for two days, he would be back on Wednesday for his internship and dinner with them. She felt the same to be honest, it would be strange not having Peter in the penthouse 24/7, his shoes lying haphazardly in the lounge regardless of how many times he had been told to leave them either under the coat rack or in his bedroom had become part home now. The boy walking into the kitchen each morning bleary eyed for breakfast would be missed but he would be back in several days and his Aunt hadn't seen him in two months, it was selfish of them to try and keep them here longer to be honest.

Several hours passed and May knew it was time they had to go. It was plain to see Tony had been trying to stop them from leaving but it was getting late. They had stayed for dinner and even a movie but Peter had school tomorrow and she did want to get back to her own bed. "Right Peter come on." She said as she got to her feet, "it's time we got going, we need to get home."

Peter nodded at his Aunt's words standing up himself. He grabbed his school bag from where he had dropped it as he came in and turned to face his mum and dad. "Thanks for letting me stay here, I hope I wasn't too much trouble."

"You're never too much trouble Pete don't worry." Pepper said as she hugged him and kissed his forehead. "We'll see you Wednesday okay, and remember you're staying here for dinner, May has a late shift so you can sleep here." At Peter's nod she walked towards the other woman in the room to give her two boys privacy.

"It's been great having you here kid." Tony said as he also hugged the teen, still holding him close he continued "now remember, if you have any trouble at all I'm just a call away, I don't want you coming in here looking like a zombie on Wednesday okay? Any nightmares and you're to call me, got it?"

"Yes dad." Peter mumbles blushing slightly as he pulls away and walks back to his aunt. The two enter the lift leaving Tony and Pepper in the lounge his arm around her waist.

As the door closes Tony finally lets the sob he has been supressing for the last twenty minutes out. He never thought he would ever have a son but now he has one letting him go even for just two days seemed like the most difficult task in the world.


	28. Just Another Day?

May had been home nearly two months and Peter's life had turned into a steady routine. With May's promotion her shifts were now more regular and she rarely did overtime so he always knew where she would be. He now stayed in Queens Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sunday nights and in the tower the rest of the week, he was happy with the new arrangement as he could see his Aunt whenever she was home and his dad when she was at work.

As great as having May home was Peter found being away from his dad difficult, in the tower just knowing Tony was next door in case he had a nightmare was comforting but in Queens he woke up screaming more often than not. After several nights of being unable to fall asleep and yet refusing to phone his dad Tony had come over and installed some sort of baby monitor in his bedroom which would wake the man if Peter had a bad dream. At first Peter had been angry and embarrassed at his dad's actions until the man pointed out that if Peter had just done as he was told and called him if he had a nightmare such drastic actions wouldn't have been necessary. The brief argument that followed only resulted in Peter standing with his nose in the corner of the kitchen under Tony's watchful eyes for half an hour until May came home from work and scolded him further.

"Peter, do you want to come over? We still haven't finished the Millennium Falcon set I got for my birthday."

Startled from his thoughts by his best friends voice Peter shrugged and agreed, he was going back to Queens today and he hadn't been to Ned's house in a while, as great as working in the labs and hanging out in the tower was sometimes he just wanted to hang out and do normal teen stuff with his friend. "I'll just text May, I'll have to be home for dinner though." Ned nodded excitedly at his words with a grin spreading from ear to ear, soon enough the school bus reached the closest stop to Ned's and both boy's jumped off eagerly discussing their predictions for the still untitled Star Wars film.

Peter had been going to Ned's house for years to hang out, it was larger than his own apartment not to mention in a much safer neighbourhood. Ned's mom hadn't even allowed Ned to visit Peter's until the year before, so naturally Ned's house had been like a second home to Peter…well until he met Tony now it was like his third home but still.

Peter sat down on the rug on Ned's floor in the same spot he had every other time he visited. He liked the familiarity of it, he and Ned always sat in the same spots when building Lego and he was sure at this point if that changed it would be too uncomfortable for them to concentrate.

In mere minutes the two boys settled into their usual rhythm and although sitting in silence were able to comfortably work together in a way only years of doing so would allow. After fifteen minutes or so Ned broke the silence between the two hesitantly asking "what's it like having your life change so dramatically all at once? You know you went from dumpster diving for old DVD players to spending time in Tony Starks lab and calling him dad."

Peter looked at his friend for a moment as he contemplated how to respond. He had never stopped to think about it really, he just went along with all the changes believing it easier to accept the changes in his life. "Well…" he started licking his lips nervously "it's hard to explain, it's bizarre. But my life has always been a bit like that, first my parents left me at my Aunt and Uncles so they could go on a trip and never returned. But I was too young, I just dealt with it I suppose I didn't fully understand what was happening."

Ned nodded as his friend spoke. Peter didn't often open up emotionally so the odd time that he did he tried not to interrupt lest his friend close himself up again.

"Then for a few years everything was fine until I got bitten by that Spider, that changed everything but I couldn't tell anyone so again I just rolled with it, there was nothing I could do, it's hardly a relatable problem is it?" Peter asked rhetorically with a sad laugh. "Then…well then Ben died and we grieved but then money became such a huge issue we couldn't dwell on his death, we had to make ends meet so we just continued on as always. So I suppose I'm maybe just used to huge life changes. None of them have been particularly enjoyable up until meeting dad and everything…it's almost as if I'm constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop. The parker luck will have to strike some time after all." Peter looked down and swallowed around a lump in his throat suddenly uncomfortable after baring his soul in such a way even if it was to his best friend.

Ned nodded, he had been beside Peter ever since they met and knew his life was difficult, he deserved some happiness, he only hope Peter was wrong about the Parker luck. Sensing the sudden tension in the air Ned effortlessly changed the topic and smiled as Peter visibly relaxed.

Time seemed to fly by every time they hung out together Peter mused. He felt bad when he first became Spiderman he had neglected his friendship with Ned, looking back on that time he was ashamed of himself. Ned had always stood by him, when he had no friends in elementary school, when he was beaten up by Flash in middle school and when he lost Ben in high school. Once his dad became more involved in his life he had told Peter he had to allow himself to be a normal teenager as well as a superhero. He told him time and time again Peter Parker should always come before Spiderman, from then on he always made sure to make time for his best friend. His dad had told him how important it was not to isolate himself as he may wake up one day and find he had no one left, that he had driven them away. Just remembering that conversation made Peter shiver, Tony had looked almost haunted as he spoke to Peter that day in the lab, as if the man was speaking about himself rather than a hypothetical future for Peter.

Peter's musings were interrupted by a knocking at the door, he lifted his head to see who was there and was unsurprised to see Ned's little sister peering round it.

"Ugh, what do you want? I told you not to bother us unless it was time for dinner Jasmine." Ned sighed, his little sister always interrupted them, she was only seven but her crush on Peter was embarrassing and she stuck to him like glue whenever he was round. He had to bribe her with the promise of ice cream to get her to stay away.

Peter smiled sadly at the siblings in front of him, he often wondered what it would be like to have a brother or sister. He watched as they bickered, it happened almost every time he came over, it always made him laugh that Ned and his sister acted like five year olds as soon as they disagreed on something. His thoughts were interrupted by Ned suddenly shooting to his feet.

"Peter, it's already twenty past eight."

Peter paled slightly as he snatched his bag from the floor and pulled his trainers back on. Dinner was always at half past seven. Whether he was in Queens or the Tower dinner was at half seven on the dot, May and Tony had decided Peter needed a routine…even the thought made him roll his eyes, he wasn't five he didn't need a routine. With a shouted goodbye to Ned and his family and a promise to Mrs Leeds to visit again soon he sprinted outside and ran out onto the street. The spider bite may not have given him super speed but it had improved his stamina and reflexes so sprinting back to his apartment without running into anyone was easy and he made the trip in ten minutes.

He felt a shiver run down his spine as he entered his apartment building, his spidey sense was silent though so he simply shrugged it off and ran up the stairs to his apartment, once he reached the landing he gave the front door a push and frowned as it refused to move. If the door was locked clearly May wasn't home, but where was she? Peter fished his phone out his pocket as he unlocked the door and let himself into the apartment to find it as he suspected, empty. However he was shocked to see no sign of May, usually she would put her bag down next to the door when she came home from work but it wasn't there. Had she stayed on at work for some reason? Pressing the home button on his phone he frowned once more as he saw he had no messages or missed calls, that was strange if May wasn't going to be home on time she would definitely tell him. He shrugged, maybe her phone was dead. He had been planning on going out as Spiderman tonight but it seemed wrong to go out without seeing May first so he made his way to the kitchen and made himself a quick sandwich before throwing himself down in front of the TV to wait for his Aunt.

After an hour he checked his phone again and decided he should maybe give her a call. He dialled the familiar number and held his breath as it rang, waiting for her to pick up. He began to pace as the phone rang unable to sit still.

"Hello." Peter almost dropped the phone as it was picked up on what must have been the final ring. He took his phone from his ear and looked at the screen, he had definitely called May, so why was it not May that picked up?


	29. The End of an Era

"Hello" The voice repeated pulling Peter back into the room. "Is anyone there? Peter?"

"I'm Peter, who is this?"

"I'm Dr Woods from Flushing Hospital Medical Center."

Peter quickly ran the name through his mind, it wasn't the hospital May worked at so why did a doctor from there answer his Aunt's phone? "Sorry, why do you have my aunt's phone? Where is she?" Peter asked voice rising as he began to panic.

"This is your Aunt's phone? Do you know the details of her next of kin?"

Peter's heart sunk at her words, "I am, I'm her next of kin. Why? What's wrong?"

"There has been an incident, can you make your way to Flushing Hospital Medical Center sir?"

"Ummm yeah I'll be there in ten minutes." Peter replied as he hung up the phone. He knew it would take much longer to get there if he walked or even if he took a taxi so he pulled his suit on and practically leapt out the window with his clothes in a backpack. He didn't think he'd ever swung anywhere quite as fast as he was making his way to the hospital now.

In what was really no time at all but seemed to Peter like an age he arrived just around the corner and dropped into an alley to change out of view of those on street. Hopping on one foot as he pulled his trainer's back onto his feet he rushed out the alley his bag bouncing on his back as he sprinted through the doors of the emergency department easily dodging round people.

His shoes squeaked as he stopped suddenly in front of the desk making the receptionist look up from her computer screen irritably barely containing her sigh. Peter took an involuntary half step back as she spoke thrusting a form towards him "if you're not dying here's a form, fill it in. Bring it back. Wait in line."

"I was told there had been an incident, my Aunt's here." Peter said stumbling over his words in an effort to get them out as fast as possible lest she start berating him for wasting her time or something.

"Name?" the receptionist asked looking back towards her computer.

"May Parker."

"Fifth floor room 105." Peter takes off running as soon as she speaks, he's both eager to see his aunt and find out what the hell is going on and also get away from the irritated receptionist. He takes the stairs two at a time ignoring the grumbling of those around him and easily finds the rooms he's looking for. As he approaches a man exits the room with a clipboard in his hand looking tired.

"Excuse me, I'm looking for my Aunt, I was told she's in there. Can you tell me anything? I'm Peter."

"Your Aunt was involved in an accident, she was hit by a car on what we assume was her way home from work."

"Oh my god. Is she okay? Can I see her?"

Peter watches as the man's face tightens, and he can hardly contain a flinch as he puts a hand on his shoulder. "Peter, you should maybe take a seat." He says propelling Peter in the direction of a small office across the corridor as the teen's feet seem unable to move.

Once he's seated Peter takes a breath and looks at the doctor opposite him.

"Peter. I need you to understand. An ambulance was called immediately and your Aunt was taken here but her injuries are too serious, there's nothing we can do."

Peter gasped at his words and clenched his hand into s first his nails digging into his palms in an attempt to ground himself. "Will she be okay though?" he asks sounding much younger than he is as he almost begs the doctor to lie to him, he already knows from the man's expression what his answer will be however.

"Peter. Is there anyone we can call? An uncle perhaps?"

"It's just me, I'm all she's got." He says shaking his head as he barely holds back his tears.

"Peter she had hours at most. I'm sorry." He is almost glad the man didn't beat around the bush and Peter simply nods numbly allowing the doctor to guide him into May's room.

"I want to be alone with her. To…to say goodbye."

"Of course, just press this button if you need anything."

Peter nods mechanically barely registering his words. As soon as the door closes behind the doctor he bursts into tears unable to hold them back at the sight of his aunt. She looks frail in the hospital bed with tubes all over her and the beeping of machines disrupting his senses. Her face is bruised and he can't help but stare at the bandages around her head. He grips her hand in his just as she always did when he was sick, his phone beeps in his pocket but he turns it off without looking at it, unable to face anyone at this point in time. His sobs soon die down and he climbs onto the bed next to May careful to avoid the wires and tubes, he holds her tight as if doing so will prevent the inevitable but he knows that nothing can be done.

"I love you May. I don't know what to do. If I could take your place I would. I would May. I'm sorry. I should have been there…" Peter rambled quietly into her ear as he began to sob once more.

About half an hour later Peter is drawn from the light doze he slipped into by a commotion outside the door of May's room. He stiffens and pulls May in tighter to his body unconsciously as the door is almost thrown open.

Tony took stopped in his tracks as soon as he could see into the hospital room. Peter was lying on the bed next to his Aunt holding her close, he could barely see his son's face but his hitched breathing made it clear the boy was crying. He had come as quickly as he could once F.R.I.D.A.Y. had alerted him that Peter had been in a hospital for more than half an hour, he been gobsmacked when he arrived and found out it was May in trouble and not his boy. Well trouble was too light a word really, she looked horrendous and her breathing was uneven even with the help of a machine. He had had to hack into the computer system to find out what room May was in as the staff refused to tell a non-family member where she was.

"Excuse me sir. You need to leave. Family only. I will call security if you don't leave sir. You can't be interrupting this boy."

Peter looked up as the doctor from before spoke and his eyes immediately fell on his dad standing in the doorway stubbornly ignoring the doctor demanding he leave.

"I'm his dad, I am family."

At Tony's words the doctor looked at the teen on the bed raising an eyebrow. "Peter, I don't care if this is Tony Stark if he is lying I can make him leave."

Peter smiled sadly at the doctor's words, the fact a man who had never met him would go against Iron Man so he could be with his Aunt in her final moments was admirable. "It's fine doctor, he is my dad. Its okay he can stay. Thank you though."

With those words the doctor simply nodded and left after reminding Peter to ring if he needed anything.

As soon as his dad sat down on a chair next to the bed Peter practically leapt off the bed to hug him. He sniffled as his dad pulled him tight against his chest and rested his chin on the top of his head. It was a familiar gesture and Peter let himself relax into his embrace as he sobbed for what would soon be the loss of another family member.

After an hour or so Pepper arrived and moved a couch from the corner to next to May's bed allowing Peter to curl up between his parents but still hold his Aunt's hand. The three sat in silence comfortable to be in each other's presence. Peter was unsurprised when Pepper fell asleep she had flown back from Miami as soon as Tony had called with the news about May.

Peter was also exhausted it was now two am but he was afraid to fall asleep. He was thankful his mum and dad had arrived, he hadn't been in the right frame of mind to even think about calling them, for once he was glad Tony was such a helicopter parent who tracked almost his every move. Suddenly he felt the hand in his own twitch slightly and he looked up in amazement eyes wide.

May let out a few shuddering breaths as she whispered "I love you Peter, never forget. I love you." Peter stood up, his rapid movement unsettling Pepper and waking her, he knew that was it but he still felt his heartbreak when his Aunt didn't take another breath.

As soon as Peter stood Tony did alongside him and when his son let out a strangled sob he pulled him tight against his chest once more allowing the boy to seek comfort from him. He did not know how long he stood there but he didn't move until he felt Peter slump against it, he had cried himself to sleep. He moved carefully to place the boy down on the couch draping his own jacket over him and kissing his forehead so he could turn to face May once more.

"May, I'll live up to my promise, of course. It's strange you know…I thought you would hate me. I was sure you would. I put your nephew in danger in Berlin and allowed it to continue but you gave me a son. You gave me the greatest gift. I will do all I can for him. Thank you May."


	30. Grieving

The first few days after May's death were a blur to Peter. Uncle Rhodey and Bruce had offered to make all the funeral arrangements and he couldn't have been more relieved. He knew he was unable to make those decisions himself but he had been afraid his dad would offer which would have taken him from Peter's side even if only for short amounts of time. Peter had hardly been left alone since Tony and Pepper had arrived at the hospital, he supposed they were worried he would wallow in his grief if left to his own thoughts for too long.

Then a week after May's passing was the funeral. It was even harder than Ben's had been, this time there was no May to accept the condolences of family friends so Peter stood at the entrance of the church with his dad thanking people for coming. Sure Tony had offered to do it but Peter hadn't wanted to leave his side. Other's said it had been a lovely service but Peter couldn't appreciate that, he was the only Parker left now and still hadn't fully accepted it until the service. He knew intellectually he was but it wasn't until he watched as May's coffin was lowered into the ground that he finally accepted she would not be coming back.

Even a week after the funeral never felt hungry and only ate when he was told he couldn't leave the table until he had cleared his plate. It was as if life was moving in slow motion but also faster than it ever had. The first week he had cried all the time, every time he was reminded of May he would start sobbing but soon he ran out of tears. He tried to take each day at a time but it seemed reminders of his Aunt were everywhere, if he sat in front of the TV with Tony he couldn't remember what they watched all he could remember was the hundreds of times he sat with May and watched movies. When Pepper kissed his forehead when he walked into the kitchen for breakfast he would remember how May used to do the same when he left the apartment for school.

Tony was worried. Peter was obviously grieving but he really was not coping. He had hardly said a word since May's death and it had been two weeks. The boy picked at his food and hardly slept, the bags below his eyes which had finally faded had returned three times worse than before. Tony didn't know what to do, Nat had recommended he give the boy time, she said Peter would come to him, but he didn't seem to want to share his feelings. Tony had offered to tinker in the lab with him but Peter refused, he had asked if he wanted to patrol but he hadn't wanted to. He was lost. After his offer of training was turned down Tony knew he had to call in the big guns. Ned.

Ned was surprised when his phone rang. Who even phones someone in 2018? Texts did enough. It was even stranger that he didn't recognise the number but he muted the TV and picked up anyway, it could be important. "Hello?"

"Hello is this Ned, it's Tony?" Ned almost dropped his phone in shock as a familiar voice spoke down the phone. Like sure he had spoken to Tony before, even been to his penthouse, the memory of Pepper finding out Tony let Ned visit when Peter was grounded still brought a smile to the teens face, but even so speaking to Tony Stark himself was still surreal.

"Yes, how did you get my number? How's Peter? He hasn't called at all. I thought I should give him space but…" Ned trailed off nervously.

"I'm Tony Stark. Not good. Yeah let's maybe cut out the giving him space thing, he needs help but won't let me or Pepper. You were there after Ben died, do you know anything that might help?"

Ned thought back to Ben's death nearly two years before and shuddered. Peter had been a mess, hardly eating, hardly sleeping, and nearly killing himself patrolling all the time. "I don't really think he did get out of his funk until he met you Mr Stark…" Ned said eventually breaking the silence. "I don't really know what to tell you, have you thought about maybe getting him some help? After his parents died I think he went to counselling for a little while, May probably couldn't afford it after Ben now I think about it."

Tony nodded then hummed in agreement upon realising Ned couldn't see him. "That's a good idea, thanks Ned. I'll call someone. How about you come over tomorrow sometime? Peter needs company his own age, he isn't ready for school quite yet." After another five minutes or so he let Ned go and made his way to his son's room for a chat.

When Tony opened the door he didn't lay eyes on Peter immediately and if he hadn't already asked F.R.I.D.A.Y. where the boy was he wouldn't have thought he was in the room at all. "Peter?" He almost jumped out his skin when he got a mumbled response from above him. Looking up he saw some sort of hammock made of webbing, the same one he had seen Peter and Nat in months before in fact, inside the quasi-cocoon was his son. "Pete can you come down? We need to chat." Moving across to sit on the boys bed, he sat up against the headboard with his legs outstretch and was totally unsurprised when the boy dropped down and cuddled up next to him silently. He started to card his finger through the kid's hair absently in an effort to both soothe Peter and relax himself. "Peter, I think you maybe need some help." He felt the body next to him stiffen but continued to silently run his fingers through the boy's curls until he relaxed again. "Pete…the way you are coping isn't healthy. May wouldn't want this, you need to live your life."

Peter nodded sadly at his dad's words. Logically he knew May wouldn't like what he was doing but he couldn't bring himself to do anything. "It's like I'm stuck…nothing holds any enjoyment, it's like I'm here but I'm not…I'm scared dad."

Tony's heart broke at his son's confession. "Peter…you would tell me if you had bad thoughts wouldn't you?" He looked worriedly at his son, terror suddenly coursing through his body at the thought of losing his soon. When the boy didn't answer he repeated the question but only relaxed minutely when the boy nodded. He mentally noted to inform his AI to inform him should Peter try to hurt himself in any way.

"I don't want to see a therapist dad. It's weird. I'm a superhero. You don't go to one, Uncle Rhodey doesn't, mum doesn't."

"Peter…listen superhero's need help too sometimes. Rhodey does go to a psychiatrist, he has done since he got injured, losing the use of his legs was traumatic, just as May's passing is for you. And Pep she went to a therapist for months after the Mandarin incident."

"You still don't go dad. Why should I."

Tony sighed, Pep was always telling him to lead by example when it came to Peter, he had started sleeping more in an attempt to encourage Peter to adopt a healthy sleep pattern, he had even started to wear goggles every time he entered the lab! He hadn't worn goggles in the lab since he was about fourteen. "Peter, if I see a therapist will you? I'll find us both a therapist first thing tomorrow but you have to promise me to give it a shot. Not everyone finds the right one straight away but that's okay. We can keep looking until we find the right person." When Peter murmured an agreement he placed a kiss on the boy's curls and pulled him in tighter. "Love you spiderbaby."

"Love you dad."


	31. Back to School

Two weeks had passed since Peter and Tony's conversation about therapy and Peter didn't feel quite himself obviously but he felt better than he had at any point since May's death. It turned out they didn't need to 'shop around' for the right therapist because Emily was great, Peter felt immediately at ease around her and she had helped him immensely.

Tony was relieved and frankly shocked at the change in Peter since he started seeing Emily. The boy was no longer terrified to be left alone, sure he still needed reassurance he wasn't being left or forgotten but in the past few days a simple text seemed to be enough for him, it was a far cry from Peter's impression of a human limpet just the week before. Also, thankfully, Peter was talking again, he wasn't back to his usual excitable self but he was finally talking and that was enough for Tony. The man had just come in from a meeting and couldn't see Peter, his boy was usually on the couch when he came home watching the TV so it was slightly bizarre to come in to an empty lounge. "Fri where's Peter?"

"In his room boss"

Tony nodded to himself, he knew should have known that, Peter would have told him had he been planning on leaving the penthouse so he could only be in his own bedroom or Tony's lab, well it was now their lab really. Slipping his shoes off and draping his jacket over the back of the couch he walked down the hall towards his son's bedroom. He knocked and waited for Peter's response but when none came on his second knock he walked in, his son was probably having a nap or something. He stopped in his tracks just inside the door and blinked at what he saw. Peter was lying on his stomach on his bed with his laptop in front of him surrounded by books and papers with his headphones on, it was a sight he thought he would never see, he never expected to have kids but here his was fully relaxed in his bedroom. "Peter" when he got no reply from the boy who still hadn't noticed his entrance he tried again louder, sighing he walked over to the bed and lightly tapped the teen on the shoulder startling him.

Peter jumped when he felt someone tap his shoulder, why didn't his spidey sense warn him? Rolling over he realised it was just his dad who never set off his spidey sense even when he was about to punish him. Which was totally uncool, because his ass was often in danger when his dad punished him. He removed his headphones and dropped them down beside him bringing his legs up to his chest so Tony could perch on the end of the bed.

"Peter I knocked and called your name twice, you don't need your music that loud, it's bad for your ears."

Peter refrained from rolling his eyes knowing it would just end with a scolding, ugh Tony was such a dad sometimes. "Sorry, it helps me focus."

"What are you doing anyway, this doesn't look like internship work." Tony asked gesturing at the papers on the bed deciding just to leave the music thing alone.

"Oh…ummm. I asked Ned to take it yesterday, it's my school work. I want to catch up on everything I missed before I go back."

"There's no need to rush Pete, you can take as long as you want, you know that right?"

"Yeah but…I want to go back dad. I need to get back into the swing of things. And I miss seeing my friend's every day. I spoke to Emily about it and I want to go back on Monday."

Tony nodded, the boy was right and he was glad Peter was the one to bring it up he wouldn't have liked to have to force him to go back to school. "Okay, I'll set up a meeting with the Principal."

"That's not really necessary dad." Peter started nervously.

"It wasn't a question Pete." Tony replied ruffling the sulking teen's hair as he left the room.

ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ

Peter was roused on Monday by his alarm at half seven and dragged himself across the room to turn it off then sleepily make his way to his bathroom to get ready for the day. His dad had arranged for them to meet Principal Morita at 9am so he would be missing his first class or maybe even first two. To be honest he was thankful, he hadn't woken up early since May's death and just the thought of going from his usual ten o'clock wake up time to the half past six he would have to get up to make it to school at eight made him shiver.

He had a quick shower to wake himself up then threw on a pair of jeans and a random jumper before walking through to the kitchen where his parents were already having breakfast. He sat himself down in his usual seat and smiled softly as Pepper kissed him on the forehead as she placed a huge stack of pancakes in front of him. "Thanks mum." He murmured as he dug into his breakfast. Ten minutes later he stood up and carried his plate to the sink giving it a quick wash before leaving it to dry.

Peter ran back to his room to brush his teeth and grab his school bag swinging it onto his shoulder and grabbed his shoes before dropping down onto the couch.

"You really should untie your shoes you know, instead of slipping them on and off all the time."

Peter shrugged ignoring his dad's words as he pulled his converses onto his feet.

"Have you got everything? Lunch money? Books?" Peter nodded as he unlocked his phone and began texting Ned. "Where's your jacket? Peter are you even listening?"

"Huh." The teen looked up from his phone into the annoyed face of his dad. "Did you say something?"

"Jacket. Peter where's your jacket?"

"Pffft, I don't need a jacket dad it's summer."

"It's March. Go and get it."

Huffing slightly Peter walked away grumbling under his breath as we went to grab his jacket.

"And drop the attitude!"

Ten minutes later Peter found himself in the backseat of one of Tony's less flashy cars wearing his jacket. He played on his phone as his parents chatted in the front seat about SI. He began to get a little nervous as they got closer to his school, he still didn't know why Tony wanted a meeting with Principal Morita after all. Soon enough they pulled up in front of his school and the small family headed towards the reception. Peter was sure nine o'clock had been chosen because no students would be in the hallways to gawk at Penis Parker going to the Principals office with Tony Stark and Pepper Potts. Few people believed in his internship after all.

Pepper scoffed internally as the secretary's jaw dropped upon seeing Tony and seemed to lose the ability to talk. Thankfully the Principal himself walked out of his office at that very moment and ushered them into his office apologising about the stunned reception they received. The office they were led into was modest but Pepper was impressed. The small family sat down on the comfortable chairs they were gestured towards as Morita sat on the opposite side of his desk. The wall behind the principal had several awards displayed which the school had won as well as what appeared to be a photo of the man and his extended family.

The group sat in silence for a moment before Morita broke it by offering his condolences to Peter who nodded shyly in thanks. "So, why was it you wanted to meet with me Mr Stark, Miss Potts?"

"Peter's life has changed drastically recently Principal Morita, what with his Uncle's death, his internship and more recently May's passing. We are concerned about how this may affect his schooling."

Peter's jaw dropped, he didn't expect anything like this. He thought they were just here to sign some papers or to change his emergency contacts.

"Okay, that's understandable Miss Potts." He turned to his computer as he spoke and pulled up Peter's file. "Well I don't see any issues grade wise and other than the incident in Washington with the Decathlon team and several write ups for using his phone in class his disciplinary record is fine."

At the man's words Tony's head whips around to look at his son. "You've been using your phone in class?"

Peter blushed at the scrutiny he was suddenly under and mumbled "everyone does" back.

"I don't care about anyone else Peter, if I find out you're caught using your phone in class again I'll lock it during class time."

"Yes sir." Peter mumbled looking at his feet embarrassed at being scolded in front of his Principal.

"Sorry Principal Morita" Pepper said in order to get the attention off her blushing son.

"It's quite all right Miss Potts. We are able to email you a copy of Peter's file each week, several parents do this, it's a good way to keep an eye on how their kids are getting on."

"We'd like that, thank you, I think you already have our contact details." Tony reached into his pocket and took out a sheet of paper handing it to the man opposite him. "This is the details of Peter's new emergency contacts, it's his Uncle and if he can't be reached I've also put my head of security who's something of an uncle as well."

Ten minutes later the family left the office and Peter was sent to class with a ruffle of his hair and warning to behave and keep his phone in his bag from his dad.

Principal Morita watched from his window as arguably the most famous man in the world and his fiancée left his school and headed back towards their car deep in conversation. He had heard the rumour of Peter's internship, of course he had it had been debated in the staff room after all but he never could have expected the boy to be so close to the superhero. He had been worried Peter may have to leave the school when he heard of May Parker's passing, he'd been anxious when his secretary told him Tony Stark wanted a meeting with him about the boy's future that it would be to pull the boy out of Midtown. As soon as the family walked into his office however all worries left him, he knew how much this school meant to Peter and it was obvious Tony and Pepper saw him as their own. He'd been shocked however when Mr Stark reprimanded the boy for using his phone in class. He'd never seen that coming, the man had in fact acted like any other parent worried about their child's future. He'd had his doubts but now he knew Peter was in good hands.


	32. Trouble Brewing

"Peter, what do you think you're doing?"

Peter rolls his eyes when he hears his dad's voice, what a stupid question, it's obvious he's on the Xbox.

"Don't roll your eyes at me young man. Just because you aren't looking at me doesn't mean I don't see you do it."

"That makes no sense dad. Did you come in here for something or just to bother me?"

Tony raised an eyebrow at his son's tone. "You know school work comes before anything else Pete, turn your game off."

"Whatever, I'll do it after this game."

"Fri, turn off the Xbox."

When the screen turns black mid game Peter throws his controller to the side dramatically and spins to look at his dad for the first time since he entered the room. "What did you do that for?"

"Do your homework. And you better fix that attitude if you don't want to become reacquainted with the corner of my office kid."

Sighing Peter grabbed his bag and took his books out so he could get started on his homework.

Tony pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration as his son practically threw himself down at his desk and put his headphones on to ignore him. Peter had been acting like this for over a week and it was getting on his last nerve. The boy was on thin ice and making even the tiniest of things into an argument, he had tried talking to him to find out what was bothering him but he wasn't getting anywhere. He'd asked Rhodey but he'd just shrugged it off as teenage angst, Tony thought there had to be more to it though. Shaking his head he left the room quietly telling F.R.I.D.A.Y. to alert him if Peter stopped doing his homework.

Pepper was in the lounge with her Starkpad in her lap when Tony walked in. "I heard raised voices" she says raising her eyebrow in question.

"He wouldn't turn off his game when he knows homework comes first, and he was disrespectful. Why is he acting like this Pep? Are we doing something wrong?"

Pepper shrugged with a sad smile on her face, she had no idea what was wrong with their son but she knew if his behaviour didn't make a dramatic change soon the boy would end up with a sore backside. "Give him time to cool off. If his attitude improves see if he wants to go out as Spiderman or tinker in your lab, he's maybe just a little stressed or something he has that physics test next week?"

"Yeah, could be Pep, I'll ask him after dinner."

ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ

Tony looks at his watch for what must be the fiftieth time, "I'm going to kill that kid. He promised me he would be home on time."

"Peter has just entered the building." F.R.I.D.A.Y said mere seconds after Tony' grumbling. The man stood up running his hand through his hair as he did so smiling lightly at his fiancée who entered the room, he assumed to also meet Peter.

When the elevator doors opened Peter walked into the lounge paying zero attention to his surroundings due to his eyes being glued to his phone screen as he text Ned and MJ. He heard a sharp cough undoubtedly an effort to gain his attention but he ignored it and started heading towards his bedroom.

"Peter. Peter." The boy ignored his dad and made to continue towards his bedroom until his phone was quite literally snatched from his hands and he was forced to turn around by Pepper.

"Hey! What was that for?" He snapped at her.

Tony's jaw dropped at the blatant disrespect he had never heard Peter talk to Pep like that and by her expression she hadn't either. She pulled herself together quickly though and quicker than either Tony or Peter thought possible she spun the boy around landed a hard smack to his ass and righted him again.

Peter felt himself blush as he looked up at his mum furiously. Why did she smack me? She's never done that before. Dad sure, but mum! It hadn't hurt and already he couldn't feel anything but that was totally beside the point.

"Sit down Peter, and if you want to argue we can easily move this conversation to your dad's office."

Pepper watched as the boy nodded numbly shocked at what had just occurred. She herself was slightly shocked it was just instinct, Peter had been acting like a brat and she knew Tony would have smacked him had he spoken to him like that so she had to, consistency was key.

Tony sat down on the couch opposite the teen and immediately went into lecture mode. "Peter, it's forty minutes after your curfew and you've just walked in as if that means nothing. We let you go out as Spiderman despite your attitude before dinner and this is how you repay us? Not only that but you then ignore me when I try to get your attention and then mouth off at your mum. That is unacceptable. What do you have to say for yourself?"

"Sorry." The boy shrugs not sounding the slightest bit apologetic and refusing to look up from the floor.

"Do you want to try that again? With feeling this time."

Peter scoffs internally. "You're overreacting, you knew I was fine I know how many protocols are in my suit, whats the big deal?"

"What's the big deal? What's the big deal?" Tony splutters gesturing his arms wildly.

Peppers places a hand on her fiancé's arm to calm him before speaking herself, making sure to maintain eye contact with her son and keep her voice level. "Peter, the big deal is we agreed a curfew of eleven o'clock and you broke it. You broke your word. It's a school night and you know the rules. The rules are in place to protect you and keep you healthy, you know this and you know they are non-negotiable."

Peter sighed and toed his shoe sullenly into the rug. "Okay sorry." He says with slightly more meaning behind it. "I won't do it again. Happy?"

"No not happy, you do not take that tone with me young man. Is that clear?" When she receives a mumbled apology and a nod she continues. "You broke your curfew, you know the rules, and you are grounded for the next week. No Spiderman, no friends, no Xbox."

"Fine! Can I go now? I have school tomorrow."

Tony nods angrily trying his best not to raise his voice at the kid. "You may go, straight to bed though Pete, and you better have lost that attitude by the morning or you'll be going to school with a red backside."

Peter nodded jerkily at his dad's words clenching his jaw as he stalked to his bedroom, as angry as he was at his parent's overprotectiveness he didn't slam the door knowing Tony would definitely smack him if he did so. Almost as soon as his head hit the pillow he realised how tired he was…huh maybe midnight was late to go to bed on a school night. Just as he was about to drop off to sleep he slapped his hand against his head. Abe from decathlon was having a party this weekend, everyone was going it would be social suicide to miss it and he was grounded…but then again what his parents didn't know wouldn't hurt them. The teen fell asleep with a slight smirk on his face.


	33. Parties and Poor Decisions

"So my mom offered to take us to Abe's, do you want a lift? We can pick you up at the tower."

At Ned's words Peter swallows nervously, if Mrs Leeds comes to collect him she would be seen and someone would definitely tell Tony if they saw his son get into some random car. "Nah it's cool I'll just come to yours, no point going out of your way."

"Peter the tower is literally on the way, don't be awkward."

"Nah it's cool really, I'll come to you or you can pick me up at the gelato place around the corner from the tower?"

"Pete…why are you being weird. You know my family know about Tony there's no need to hide." Suddenly it hit's Ned, Peter's ears turn red and he knows his best friend so he knows that means Peter is either in trouble or likely to be in trouble. "Wait…your dad does know about Abe's party yeah?"

"Well…technically…ummm…maybe not. I'm sorta grounded."

"Peter! What the hell?"

"It's cool he doesn't need to know him and mum are at some charity fundraiser tomorrow anyway, they won't even know I'm gone."

"Dude there's an AI in your home whose like main job is to know where everyone is and what they're doing."

At that Peter smirked and took a USB out of his pocket. "It's cool I got FRIDAY covered, it was impossible to hack into it but I made a sort of plaster which will just cover my room so if anyone asks where I am or what I'm doing Fri will just say I'm asleep." Honestly Peter was pretty proud of what he had achieved especially as he was only able to work on it when no one else was around, it had taken him ages.

"What if someone looks in your room?"

"Won't happen…well probably not, it's cool, they know even a little noise wakes me up so they won't check on me, mum is big on getting a good night's sleep."

"Fine, whatever, we'll pick you up at the gelato place at eight, but if your dad finds out I want him to know I did not help with this."

Peter grinned in response, he knew Ned would be cool.

ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ

"Peter, come here I want to talk to you."

Peter threw his phone down onto his bed and made his way towards the source of the shout. Walking into the lounge he saw his parents dressed to the nines, his dad's tie matched his mums dress and he couldn't help but smile at them. "You look great, both of you."

Tony grinned at his son in thanks, Peter's behaviour had improved since their argument the other day, he just hoped it would continue to do so he did hate punishing the boy after all. "We will probably be back around two, so you better be in bed when he get home, okay Peter?" At his son's nod he continued "good boy. Now Bruce and Nat are out for date night so if you need anything send me a text or call Rhodey or something. And remember you're grounded so if I found out you leave this apartment to go to the labs or something you'll be in trouble, the same goes for inviting anyone over."

Peter's stomach flipped but he nodded anyway pushing away the guilt. After all he wouldn't need to break his grounding if his parents hadn't been ridiculously overprotective and grounded him in the first place. So really it was their fault he planned to do what he was. He waved as his parents left and as soon as the elevator closed made his way into his dad's office. Technically he wasn't breaking a rule by being in here, he had never been told he couldn't come in after all, he just never really did...apart from when he was in trouble obviously. He sat himself down in Tony's desk chair and turned on the computer, his USB in hand. As soon as it was up and running he pushed the USB into one of the ports and began typing furiously.

Ten minutes later Peter sat back with a smile. Nailed it. "FRIDAY where is Peter?"

"Peter is asleep in bed."

The teen punched the air in celebration and sprinted back to his bedroom to shower and change. A half hour later he was ready, he thought about going out the window but the risk of his face being seen was too big and he could hardly take his suit as he had no way to hide it. So he took the private elevator down to the ground level and left from the back entrance so he would be less likely to be seen. He didn't want anyone to report him to his parents after all.

Ned grinned as they pulled up in front of the gelato shop to pick up Peter, he was honestly shocked his friend had managed to get out unscathed, he sure as hell wouldn't directly disobey Tony Stark, Peter had balls that was for sure. Twenty minutes later they pulled up at Abe's which already seemed to be fairly busy and with a shout of thanks the teens jumped out the car and made their way inside.

God it was loud. The only other party Peter had been to was Flash's and he had a slight issue with the noise there, but he had found alcohol seemed to dull it so he made his way to the drinks table and promptly helped himself to a beer. Eyes searching the room he quickly found MJ and made his way over with a smile.

Peter was on his second beer when he heard a shout from across the room "Hey Pete, come join the beer pong tournament." With a shouted agreement he fought his way through the dancing teens where a table was set up, Cindy was standing next to it with a sheet of paper.

"Right you play three games then the final. You playing Peter?"

Peter agrees and stands to the side to watch the first game knowing he's up next against Ned. Twenty minutes later Peter beats Jonathon and gets himself into the final, by this point he has drank cups and the alcohol is beginning to hit him. Turns out Spider DNA does make it harder to get drink…well he has nothing to compare it to having not been drunk before but he is amongst the more sober there.

"Ready to lose Penis?" He rolls his eyes at Flash's ridiculous taunts and takes his place opposite his long time bully smirking. He easily sinks the first ball in one of the other boy's drinks but is immediately force to drink another cup himself, it seems despite being fairly drunk Flash still has quite impressive hand eye coordination. But, his is better. Within ten minutes Flash is drinking his last cup suitably cowed. Peter laughs as the others cheer him on and graciously accepts another beer from Abe.

"Chug, chug, chug."

Fuck it. Peter thought to himself as he fell for the peer pressure and began to chug his drink. By this point he was definitely drunk but couldn't care less. He was with his friends and having fun, he was being a normal teenager for a change and it felt great….actually shit maybe not he thought to himself as he felt his stomach begin to rebel.

Pushing people out of the way he was in the bathroom in seconds slamming the door behind him as he proceeded to empty his stomach. The first few times it was just beer but soon he was dry heaving and pushed himself away from the toilet to lean back against the door.

"Hey…Petrrrr….Petrrr….Spidr…man"

Peter dragged himself to his feet and pulled the door open in a panic his heart slowing slightly when he realised it was just an extremely drunk Ned. "Dude you okay?" Peter had to admit throwing up maybe helped him a little he was still drunk but not quite as hammered as before.

"Tis dark Petrrr….bedtime."

Peter blinked slowly as he tried to interpret his friends words, looking at his watch he let out a muttered swear reaching his hand out to hold the door frame for support. "Okay…right." He grabbed Ned and threw his arm over his shoulder so he could support his weight and began to lead him out of the house. It was already twenty past one and his parents were due home at two…so if he took Ned home then went to the tower he could probably get there with five minutes to spare. With a shouted goodbye in the general direction of those still partying Peter grabbed his jacket and half dragged Ned outside. Usually as Spiderman he would have been able to carry his friend in a fireman's lift but Ned was drunk…pretty much a dead weight and he himself was drunk enough that he could drop Ned.

"You're a good friend Peter. You're the best. I'll come to your funeral."

"Thanks Ned, you're a great friend too. Wait!? What funeral?"

"When Irondad kills you hahahahahahaha."

"He won't kill me because he will never find out." Peter responded sighing as Ned's answer was just a hiccup. How reassuring.

When he dropped Ned off he watched him go into his house, there was no way he was going in and he didn't want to face Mrs Leeds if he took her son home almost passed out from alcohol.

So…twenty to one plenty of time he thought to himself as he stumbled back towards the tower. At least he couldn't get lost he thought to himself giggling slightly as he looked up at the massive building several blocks away.

ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ

Tony stepped out of the lift kissing his fiancée softly as he did so. "Thank you for such a great night my sweet lady."

"Tony…we are already engaged you don't need to charm me into our own bed."

He grins at her as he steals another kiss. "I don't need to but I want to Pep."

She laughs pushing him away slightly as she looks around the room. Odd. It's exactly the same as it was when they left, Peter tended to leave things lying around in the way all teenagers do but the room was undisturbed. "I wonder what Peter's been up to? He must have stayed in his room, theres no way he's suddenly started cleaning up after himself."

"hmmm…yeah it's unlike him. Fri what's Peter up to?"

"Peter is asleep in bed."

"What's Peter been doing since we left?" Pepper asks curiously.

"Peter is asleep in bed."

The two look at each other in confusion, FRIDAY never has issues answering usually. "Maybe we should check on him."

Tony nods at her words but before he's even taken two steps the elevator they just left opens behind them. Spinning on the spot his jaw drops as his eyes land on his son.

Peter pales when the door opens and his parents are directly in front of him. He glances down at his watch…"It's not two yet."

"Really! That's what you're going with Peter? Where have you been? What have you been doing? What part of grounded did you not understand? You were given explicit instructions before we left." Tony walks towards Peter his voice rising until he's yelling at the teen. Suddenly he stops dead in his tracks in front of Peter. "Peter please tell me that is not alcohol I can smell on you…and is that…yeah sick." His voice drops to a dangerous growl as he speaks disappointment lacing his words. Pinching his nose he lets out a breath "no…I'm not dealing with this right now, you can't even stand upright."

At his dad's words Peter lets go of the wall as if to illustrate he is totally fine but stumbles almost immediately. He looks at the floor unwilling to make eye contact with his undoubtedly furious parents.

"Peter. Bed now. We will deal with this in the morning."

Peter nods shakily and stumbles towards his room still refusing to meet his parent's eyes.

When he hears Peter's door close Tony sags. "It's my fault."

Pepper immediately grabs her fiancé's hand at his defeated tone. "No, not it isn't, this is on Peter. But we will get through this. Let's go to bed and deal with this with cool heads tomorrow nothing can be done now."

Tony nods at her words and makes quickly fills a glass of water to place next to his sons bed. He may be furious at the boy but he doesn't wish a killer hangover on him…after all the boy will be dealing with a sore backside anyway. For once Peter does not stir when he enters the room and he knows the alcohol he drank is the most likely reason. Leaving his bin next to the bed in case he feels sick in the morning he orders Fri to keep an eye on him before leaving the room for bed.

His sleep was nowhere near as deep as his sons.


	34. A Creative Punishment

Peter woke up sharply when his door was practically slammed open and his dad walked in. Thankfully the man didn't turn the lights on he was sure that would be too much for his senses straight after waking up.

"I want you in the kitchen in fifteen minutes, get up and have a shower" his dad said in a flat voice careful not to let his emotions out. Peter sighed, this was it. He had ruined it. He dragged himself into a sitting position and immediately gulped down the water on his bedside table…where did that come from? To be fair other than his mouth being dryer than the Sahara and feeling tired he felt totally fine, thank god. Huh…maybe Spider DNA meant he couldn't get hangovers…that could be useful.

"I don't hear the shower, seven minutes Peter."

Sighing Peter went into his ensuite for a quick shower, he smelt of stale alcohol and vomit, it was horrendous on his enhanced senses. After a quick shower he pulled on a pair of jeans and a random science t-shirt before making his way to the kitchen. He stopped in the doorway of the lounge, he was afraid of what would await him, would he be kicked out straight away? Just as he was about to turn back to his bedroom he felt a hand grip his shoulder and steer him to his usual seat in the kitchen where a bowl of cereal sat waiting for him. "I want you to have three bowls" Peter looked up to protest but just a glance at his dads stony expression and he decided it wasn't worth it. He nodded sadly focussing on his cereal which tasted like chalk.

Tony watched as Peter ate his cereal without moving his eyes from the bowl, was he afraid? Upset? Embarrassed? The boy didn't look too bad and to be honest he was glad he didn't know if he had it in him to punish the boy if he was hungover and he didn't want to let it hang over them for another day. Letting Peter stew in the corner for twenty minutes was one thing but an entire day was excessive.

When Peter finally finished his third bowl he washed his bowl silently before chancing a look at his dad. As soon as they made eye contact his dad sighed "go to my office, nose in the corner, I'll be there soon." The man sounded tired, was he sick of Peter? He wouldn't blame him, Peter didn't deserve Tony or Pepper, he was a horrible son. He nodded once and made his way to the corner he was embarrassingly well acquainted with considering he was nearly sixteen.

When Tony and Pepper entered the room ten minutes later they moved three chairs into the centre of the room leaving one separate to face the other two. "Take a seat Peter."

Peter nodded and turned around carefully dropping into the seat opposite his parents. He kind of wished they had sat behind the huge desk, he felt uncomfortably close to his parents, like he was being examined, he was almost knee to knee with them. He placed his hands on his knees and looked down at them nervously biting his lip, when a hand came out and lightly grasped his chin he jumped in shock.

"I want you to look at us Peter, we deserve that much." Pepper said as she removed his lip from between his teeth carefully.

Peter nodded and maintained eye contact with his parents as he swallowed nervously. He was unsurprised when his dad started talking.

"Peter, what happened last night was unacceptable on so many levels, and they will all be addressed. But first of all we want to know why? Your behaviour has been deteriorating for weeks, we let it slide and let it slide. In the last week it seemed to be getting better but it's clear that was just in preparation for the stunt you pulled last night."

Peter shrugged unwilling to speak up. He was surprised when Pepper continued where Tony had left off. "Peter, tell us. Is something going on at school? Is that boy bullying you again? Is it us? Have we done something to hurt you? You need to tell us Peter. We will sit here for as long as we have to."

At that she fell silent and simply looked at her son as Tony did the same beside her. They had decided they would be able to wait the boy out, silences made Peter uncomfortable he would eventually speak. After six minutes passed she was less sure.

However at ten minutes of silence Peter began to shift nervously and she had to work to keep a smirk from appearing on her face. At twelve minutes he finally spoke, his voice hardly above a whisper.

"I don't know. I just wanted to be normal. I can leave, I'll go pack." At those words he made to stand but two hands came down on his knees quickly stopping him from moving.

"What do you mean pack? Peter you can't just go to Ned's and hope we will forget about this and your punishment." Peter looked up at his dad his confusion clear.

"I'm a burden. I'm an awful son, you don't want me."

"Peter. Do not tell us what we do and don't want. You are our son Peter, we love you and nothing you do can change that. You are not a burden and yes you made poor decisions which we will be discussing but you cannot get rid of us that easily." Pepper said softly looking into his eyes to make sure he understood. It suddenly hit her as she spoke what the problem was and if the squeeze Tony just gave her fingers was any indication he did as well. Peter was testing the boundaries, it was mentioned in those parenting books Tony had bought almost a year ago, it was largely about toddlers but also in the few books they picked up about adopted children. He probably didn't even realise he was doing it. When Tony spoke next she knew without a doubt they were on the same wavelength.

"Okay, Peter. You are grounded for two weeks and I don't mean like before we all saw how that worked out." He saw Peter open his mouth angrily surely to protest, it was his Easter holiday right now after all. He held up a finger to stop him "interrupt me and I will spank you young man as well as the spanking already coming your way." At the sullen nod he received from the kid he continued "for the next two weeks you are to be with one of us 24/7. You'll be by our sides all the time, no Spiderman, no phone, no computer, no Ned. If I'm in a board of directors meeting guess who will be sitting in the corner? If I need a leak guess who will be waiting outside? If I have a conference call for six hours you will be spending that six hours in the room. And don't even thing that will get you time to tinker in the lab's because if I'm doing anything remotely fun or cool you'll be with Pepper or vice versa. Understood?"

"Yes sir." Peter replied sullenly mortified his dad felt he couldn't trust him not be by his or his mum's side. "I am sorry for letting you down, for making you lose trust in me."

"Peter sometimes sorry isn't enough." When she saw her sons shoulders slump and bottom lip begin to tremble she continued "but if you show us just how a respectable young man should act for the next few weeks I'm sure you can earn it back." At his sad nod she beckoned him over and pulled him in tightly for a hug. "We love you Peter but this cannot happen again and we need to be sure you understand how serious what you did was." After a short time she lets him go so he can sit back down again. When he does so Tony begins, his voice what she dubs the 'angry dad' voice.

"Peter, last night you acted like a reckless child. Firstly you lied to us, to our faces when you promised you would behave despite already having plans to deceive us. Secondly you broke your grounding which was in place after you already misbehaved. Then you messed with FRIDAY, what if there had been an emergency and we thought you were here? What if there was a fire and someone got hurt coming to save you because FRIDAY couldn't tell us you weren't there?" At these words Peter broke and let out a sob but Tony continued, he needed his son to understand. "Then you went out to a party, which we wouldn't have minded had you asked and not been grounded but you went to a party, a few beers would have been okay but you got drunk Peter. You got drunk and that is unacceptable. What if you let something slip about Spiderman? What if you tried to do a flip or something you usually can do in your sleep and messed up because you were drunk? We don't know how alcohol affects you and that is dangerous. You are fifteen. You are a child."

Peter was crying freely now, he felt awful, when his behaviour was laid out in front of him like that he felt like the worst person in the world.

"Not only were you drunk but you were drunk enough to throw up, what if you choked? And then you walked home. By yourself at two in the morning I know you dropped Ned off but after that you were alone. You could have been attacked or mugged, anything could have happened and not only would you be unable to defend yourself but we wouldn't be able to help because we thought you were in bed. Safe. You could hardly stand last night Peter and we will not allow this to happen again."

When Tony stopped talking Peter tried to pull himself together but was having great difficulty. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I was stupid. I didn't think. I'm the worst son."

"Peter you are not the worst son, I know for a fact Tony was much worse than you." Peppers comment elicited a wet laugh from her son and a half-hearted smack from her lover. "But grounding isn't enough, you are to write 'I will not disrespect my parents by breaking their rules, they were put in place to keep me safe. I will not lie because it puts myself and others at risk and it will always be found out and result in more trouble.' 600 times. I want an essay with references on underage drinking and its dangers and you will be getting a spanking for putting yourself in danger."

Peter's jaw dropped, he had never received such a harsh punishment before…god he really had messed up. He knew better than to argue though both his parents looked furious and he knew any backchat would just earn him a swat.

"Peter go back to the corner you are to stand there for fifteen minutes and think about everything you did wrong yesterday.

Peter nodded at his dad's words and silently made his way to the oh so familiar corner.


	35. An Awful Start to an Easter Holiday

**Hey, thank you for all the reviews they mean so much to me. I'm going to try and start updating on a schedule, I will attempt to post three days a week, so expect new chapters on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays**

 **-EmptyFridges**

Ugh surely that had to be fifteen minutes by now? Peter thought to himself as he tried not to fidget. He hated standing in the corner it was awful especially when he knew he was going to be spanked. If he moved too much his dad would reprimand him and sometimes add extra time, but he got restless easily. Fifteen minutes was ages! He was practically always on the move so being made to stand still and just stare at two walls was akin to torture.

Tony knew how much Peter hated standing in the corner but it was an extremely effective punishment. It forced the boy to stop and think about what he had done wrong without being distracted. It also worked at calming the teenager if he was angry which to be fair it did the same for himself as well as he usually sat behind his desk when Peter was in the corner and used the time to calm himself down if he was to punish his son further. He would never spank Peter in anger, after all, he was not Howard. He had only had to spank Peter twice before and both times he felt awful, he was sure he would feel the same this time.

"Come here Peter."

At his dad's words Peter turned around and made his way over to stand in front of the man. He looks at his feet ashamed to be back in this position but his dad takes his chin forcing eye contact.

"Peter you need to understand how dangerous your actions were, but we want you to know you are in this position for putting yourself and others in danger. Your other punishments cover the lying and the breaking of your grounding, you will only ever be given a full spanking for deliberately putting yourself or others in danger."

Peter nodded miserably at his dad's words as he tried and failed to keep his bottom lip from quivering. "I really am sorry dad. I won't ever do it again I promise."

"Thank you Peter, but an apology won't negate your punishment. You know the drill, get over my lap."

Peter sighs and does as he's bid an intake of breath the only display of discomfort as his dad bares his bum. ***smack*** he sucks in a breath as his dad's gauntlet covered hand comes down hard on his ass. The last twice his dad's smacks grew steadily harder but this clearly isn't the case this time as after ten smacks he's sure his ass is on fire.

"Peter, how did you get yourself in this position?"

"I was bad."

 ***smack***

"Peter, you were not bad, your choices and actions were but you are not bad. Now tell me what you did to end up over my lap."

"I put myself in danger and other people." He choked out as he desperately tried to hold back tears. He got hurt way worse than this on patrol but somehow getting his ass warmed always led to him bawling like a baby.

"How?" Tony asks as he continues peppering the boy's bum which is by now a bright pink and slowly turning red. His heart tightens slightly as he begins to hear soft sobs and hitched breathing from the boy over his lap.

"I got drunk….and I walked home alone….and I messed with FRIDAY."

"That's right Peter. You cannot do this. You put yourself and your identity in danger by getting drunk, you walked home alone on a Saturday night at two am even though you know how dangerous New York can be and you messed with FRIDAY which could easily put others in danger."

Tony lifts his leg slightly so he can smack the boy's sit spots, he needs his son to understand the seriousness of his actions. "You. Are. Never. To. Do. This. Again. Peter." He lectures as he spanks the boy with each word. "Do you understand me?"

As his dad finally slows down his smacks Peter falls limp over his lap sobbing his heart out "Yes sir. I'll never do it again. Promise."

Tony's heart crumbles as he pulls the boys shorts and jeans back up and pulls him into a standing position. Peter's face is red and blotchy from crying and he can't help but grimace as the boy wipes his running nose with the back of his hand.

"That's so gross underoos" he grumbles as he pulls the boy into his lap and gives him a hug. He runs his fingers through Peter's sweaty curls as the teen sobs into his chest soaking his shirt.

"I'm…..s-sorry for…b-being such a b-brat dad."

"Ssssh, Peter it's okay I forgive you, your mum forgives you. We love you." He continues murmuring reassurances into the boy's ear until the sobs die down and his breathing evens out, crying always seems to exhaust him.

Tony looks up as he hears the door open and his fiancée walks into the room. She runs a hand through his hair just as he did for their son mere moments before. "Don't worry Tony, he's safe, we've got him, he's okay."

He nods at her words and has to work to contain his own sobs. "I know Pep, I know. I just hate having to punish him."

"We do it because we love him. We would be doing a disservice to him and May's memory if we let him act as he pleased." He nods at her words and smiles softly at her before giving her a chaste kiss still running his hands through their child's hair. It always amazes him how innocent and young Pete looks while he's sleeping. He can't help but smile down at his naughty little spider he doesn't know how he lived before Peter was in his life. The boy brought colour and excitement into his life, he gave him a reason to live and a reason to fight for a better future.

He felt quite bad about the extensive list of punishments they had given Peter but when he thought more about it it made sense. A grounding usually meant he lost the use of his phone, laptop, his internship time and the right to see his friends so obviously that had to continue. He was sure his son wouldn't realise but the demand he stick to his parents side was a hopeful way to make him realise just how important he was to them, he only hoped it wouldn't alienate Peter further. The lines and essay made perfect sense really, as it was the school holidays Peter had a little homework sure but he would finish that quickly so the other tasks gave him something productive to do rather than leave him just sitting in the corner of conference rooms twiddling his thumbs. If his son finished all his work before the two weeks was up he was sure he could make up some project for him to do…but not too fun a project the boy was still in trouble after all.

ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ

Peter awoke slowly and slightly disorientated, he wasn't in his bed or his parent's bed so where was he? He made to roll over and the discomfort in his ass brought it all flooding back, opening his eyes he realised he was in the lounge and he could see his father sitting at the other end of the couch with Peter's feet laying on his lap.

"Hey underoos" he said with a soft smile the anger and disappointment from earlier no longer marring his feature. "I was about to wake you, Pep made soup."

Peter nodded at his dad's words and stood up to follow his dad into the kitchen where we was gestured to take his usual seat. Holding back a grimace he sat carefully but couldn't help the soft hiss that escaped him at the action. His face turned tomato red but he was relieved to see neither of his parents were going to bring it up. He murmured a thanks as his mum placed a bowl of soup in front of him as well as several slices of bread and tucked in. He was starving. He supposed it made sense, he threw up the contents of his stomach last night and he had spent a good portion of the morning crying which always made him hungry. So he dug in with gusto practically inhaling his lunch.

Once they had all finished and the dishes washed courtesy of Peter Tony stood up and kissed Pepper on the cheek. "Thanks for lunch Pep, it was splendid as always, I'm going to the lab for a few hours, how does Thai sound for dinner?"

Pepper smiled at her fiancé's words, it seemed to be an unspoken tradition that they bought Thai for dinner if Peter had been spanked. "Sure thing, I have some emails to send. Movie night tonight?" she finished addressing both her boys that time.

Peter sighed softly at her words, emails meant mom's office and mom's office only had hardback wooden chairs, she claimed it helped people stay alert. Once his dad left the room Peter made grabbed his school bag from the counter where it had been sitting since he came home yesterday and made to head to the lift.

"I think I'll use my StarkPad for my emails Pete, you can do your homework on the coffee table right?"

Peter grinned at her words nodding happily, sure sitting on the couch was slightly uncomfortable but nothing on those dreaded chairs in his mom's office. 


	36. A Dull Easter Holiday

Peter was woken up by his parent's alarm at 8am which honestly was much less annoying than his own, he should maybe ask dad if he can change it. After their movie last night he had made to go to bed but was quickly reminded he was to be with one or both of his parents 24/7 so was told to move the single mattress from one of the spare rooms into the master bedroom for the next two weeks. He was sure he would never be able to fall asleep and he'd be awake half the night but the soft tones of his parent's voices lulled him to sleep soon enough.

"Go have a shower Pete, you've to be in the kitchen in fifteen minutes and make sure to wear a shirt you'll be sitting in our meetings all day."

When he saw his son practically sprint to the bathroom with a grin on his face Tony didn't know how to feel. The main meeting he had today was with the board of directors and it always dragged on for hours, it was extremely important leading to both himself and Pepper attending but he was positive it would be mind-numbingly boring. Meeting with the board was one of the worst aspects of owning a company, he was just glad he only had to few times a year, Pepper however met with them once or twice a month, he wouldn't even inflict such torture on Steve…well on second thought…

Peter tugged at the collar of his shirt nervously as he walked into the conference room behind his mom at bang on nine o'clock, it must be hand for them to never really have to travel to go to work, May always used to complain about New York rush hour. His dad's hand was gripping his shoulder and he was unsure whether it was comfort him or stop him running, honestly if he didn't know he'd be in way waaay more trouble he probably would have chanced running. As soon as he walked in he felt the eyes of everyone already in the room on him and stood slightly closer to his dad uncomfortable with all the attention.

"This is my kid, he's staying for the meeting and has work to do. Any questions?" Tony blatantly ignored the few who open their mouths to object "great." He grabs a chair and wheels it over to the table against the wall before steering his son into it. "I'd get started on those lines if I were you, believe me when I say it will be more interesting than this meeting."

Peter groans quietly but nods before his dad ruffles his hair affectionately as he walks to his own chair at the head of the table. The wall in front of him was bare as well as the desk, without his phone he supposed his only choice was to do some work. Opening his bag he takes out a notepad and starts writing.

An hour later Peter takes a quick rest and stretches out his cramping hand. Ugh if someone had told him a year or two ago he would be sitting in a meeting with the SI Board of Directors he would have been thrilled. But they were sooooo boring. They weren't discussing anything fun or cool at all just market shares and stock values. For the first half hour or so he kept feeling people's eyes on him but no one interacted with him directly. He was drawn from his musings when he saw his watch light up, looking at the screen it read _Those lines won't write themselves underoos_ ugh. He didn't even know his watch could do that, it was a gift from his dad last Christmas. Suddenly he could feel his dad's eyes drilling into the back of his head so he picked up his pen and continued writing, he didn't want to be called out in front of the Board of Directors after all.

Finally. Finally. The meeting ended, it was almost one now. How on earth could one meeting take four hours? And they hadn't even discussed anything so were meeting again next week! Ugh he would rather be spanked again than have to suffer through another meeting like that…well…maybe not. Luckily his dad didn't have another meeting for two hours so the two of them went upstairs for lunch, Peter was ninety percent sure his dad usually did all SI work in his office…he once said something about tainting the lounge with boringness…but he was currently lounging on the couch with his StarkPad allowing Peter to turn on the TV.

ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ

A week later and Peter's admiration for his parents had somehow grown, he had been forced to sit in meetings for the last seven days and god was it boring! How his mum and dad did that day in day out he had no idea…well to be fair some of the meetings were slightly interesting the one about the new Starkphone didn't put him to sleep and his dad did allow him to share some ideas in a meeting about internships so that was pretty cool. But he was sick of the looks people kept giving him, half of them were people who were annoyed some random kid was sitting in on important meetings…it's not like he had a choice in the matter jeez. The other half were one hundred times worse though, they were people who knew who he was and it had quickly been deduced that he was in trouble with his parents. So embarrassing!

Tony felt like a monster. He knew his son was having a boring break but the kid deserved it! He felt bad about it but obviously he couldn't back down on his punishment so he was forcing himself to see it through. But his son's unhappiness wasn't the worst thing. No the worst thing was it seemed somehow half the tower knew he was punishing the kid and they were all angry about it. Sure no one knew why Pete was being punished, he was sure if they did more people would be on his side but he couldn't do that to Peter, it was a family matter so he would just have to deal with being hated. The first day or two had been fine but then he had a meeting with all the heads of departments and took Peter along, that was his downfall. From then on he had seemingly become the most hated man in SI. People began being deliberately difficult and when he had gone to the canteen for lunch he was told there was no dessert left only for Peter who was behind him to be given a gigantic slice of cake. The cleaning crew had not emptied his main office bin once and his coffee kept mysteriously disappearing. The interns had somehow blocked him from their common room and he still had no clue how they had convinced FRIDAY to do it. Also, everyone was fawning over his son, sure it was great the boy had so many people in his corner but he was trying to teach him a lesson and everyone was undermining him! He was their boss! The second head of departments meeting he took Peter to Gregor gave the kid candy and promised him he could try his hand at creating a hover board as soon as he was off restriction. Then Julie his marketing head had ruffled the boy's hair and gave him pointers on the essay he was writing and told him Tony was an idiot with cruel and unusual punishments. With the looks he had been receiving every time he left the privacy of the penthouse you'd think he'd killed the kid's dog or something. The next week couldn't pass quick enough.


	37. A Happier End to an Easter Holiday

Peter thought he would be thrilled when his grounding was over but he wasn't so sure he was. He was sitting on the couch in the lounge bored. His grounding had been lifted the previous evening and he had one final day before he had to go back to school but he didn't know what to do. He had wanted to go down and see the other interns but it was getting towards the end of the college year so they were either doing work on projects in the lab or writing essays or dissertations so he didn't want to disturb them. Bruce and Nat were away for the day god knows where, his mom was in her office doing some prep for an important meeting tomorrow and his dad was in the lab, he didn't want to interrupt them. He had spent two weeks with them he didn't want to annoy them after all, they were probably sick of him. When that last thought crossed his mind he stopped to consider his punishment….maybe they wouldn't be too annoyed actually.

Sure the first week of his grounding was pretty terrible when he was doing his lines and that horrific essay but after that his dad started giving him projects to work on. He had looked into improving the amount of energy solar panels could provide by using modified arc reactor technology, that had been pretty cool especially as his dad had been so proud. Sure May had been proud of his accomplishments but when it was science related she often didn't understand just what he had achieved, but his dad did and his praise meant the world to him. Tony Stark praising him! Calling him smart and innovative, it was crazy! Also it was great to just be able to hang out with his parents, he had no idea how much work his dad put in every day, he may not be CEO anymore but as head of R&D he was still busy and the avengers stuff added to his workload. His mom as well, he knew she was working almost all the time she wasn't in the penthouse but the amount of responsibility she had was mindboggling. It was no wonder his dad hadn't wanted the position, if he was in his dad's shoes he wouldn't either.

Hanging out with his mom was fun too, he had spent an afternoon with the marketing team, it had been the first time he hadn't been forced to work quietly in the corner and it had been brilliant. He had been thinking about asking if he could go down and join them occasionally, he had been given an open invite and he found it interesting. He had also got to go on a full tour of the building, sure he'd already been nearly everywhere but his mom was showing some investors around and he had discovered things he had no clue were even there. There had been a small museum on the history of SI which had been pretty cool and he planned to go back down and spend some time there now he was no longer grounded.

He had spent a lot of the time with both his parents and after the first couple of days he began to think they had maybe engineered it that way. Sure his parents had meetings together sometimes but not six in one week! He was sure there was something going on there, he'd even seen the head of HR open his mouth to say something on it before he was glared into submission by Pepper. It was the look she gave Peter or Tony when they were about to do something stupid and he couldn't help but be thankful it wasn't aimed in his direction, it was terrifying. He wouldn't admit it to his dad because he didn't want a repeat of this punishments, it was sooo embarrassing having to follow his parents around like a little child but he felt much more secure now, his parents had never complained or brushed him off or acted like he was an inconvenience despite the fact he was with one of them every hour of the day. So maybe going to see what his dad was up to in the lab wouldn't be annoying.

ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ

"Dad, what are doing, can I come in?"

Tony looked up at his sons questioning silencing his music with a wave of his hand. He couldn't stop the soft smile that spread across his face, he'd been worried Peter would keep his distance now his punishment was over, he wouldn't blame the kid after all but he was thrilled Peter had sought him out so soon, it hadn't even been twenty four hours yet.

"I'm just tinkering. We can try out your solar panel idea if you want?"

Peter's face lit up at the suggestion and the teen scrambled over asking FRIDAY to bring up his designs as he did so. It was the first time he had been back in the lab in two weeks but it felt like no time had passed at all as he and his dad fell into an easy rhythm and comfortable silence. He loved working with his dad and he was sure there would never come a day when he would turn down an offer to work in the lab with him.

After twenty minutes Tony broke the silence. "Peter, I got an email from your school this morning. Is there something you should have told me about?"

Peter looked up at his dad with an eyebrow raised, he knew there wasn't an issue with his grades or it would have been brought up at the beginning of the holidays. "Um…no? I mean…I don't think so." He replied racking his brains for anything he had done or anything coming up at school.

Tony sighed at his son's words and put down his screwdriver to look at him. "You didn't tell me your decathlon team was in the state final."

Peter shrugged "oh that" he thought it was something important his dad was talking about "it's no big deal."

"Peter." Tony said slowly making sure he had his son's full attention "It is important, it's amazing, I'm proud of you son. Why didn't you mention it, the final is in two weeks?"

"I didn't know you'd want to come." Peter shrugged again.

Tony was brought up short at the boys answer. Peter looked genuinely confused, "Peter, this is big, why wouldn't I want to come? Tell me what's going on in that head of your kiddo"

"Well we got through just before the Easter Holidays, Abe's was sort of a celebration…" he stopped unsurely at that but continued when his dad just waved away the comment "right…so yeah it was a celebration but I didn't really think about it you're busy and mom's busy. May was usually working when I had competitions so it didn't really cross my mind that you could even come. Why would you want to come though? It's just a stupid competition, you'll know all the answers anyway"

Tony pinched the bridge of his nose when his son stopped speaking. "C'mon let's go back to the lounge and we can discuss this."

Peter nods unsurely, was he in trouble? What's the big deal?

Soon enough Peter was sat on the couch fidgeting nervously and Tony perched on the edge of the coffee table so he was at eyelevel with his son and their knees were almost touching. "Peter. This isn't just a stupid competition. I know decathlon means a lot to you so it means a lot to me too. You're my son and it doesn't matter if I know the answers already, I don't want to go for the knowledge, I want to go to cheer you on. I want to go and see other people see how smart you are. I know you realised by the middle of the first week your mom and I had organised to have more meetings together, we did that so we could spend time with you Pete, even though you were in trouble because you are our boy and we want to be there for you underoos. I know May had to work a lot to keep you guys afloat and I'm thrilled she did that for you but we are not in that position. Pep and I will happily take an afternoon or a day off, heck even a week if we need to to support you. We want to come to your meets, I want to be the dad cheering embarrassingly loud whenever his son answers correctly. Okay?"

Peter blushed and looked at his knees as he nodded. "Sorry, I'll get you tickets first thing tomorrow. I promise." He grinned as his dad ruffled his hair affectionately as he sat down next to him turning on the TV as he did so.

"Star Wars then Spiderling?"


	38. Decathlon

**Thank you so much for all the reviews it really means a lot to me that you're enjoying my fic. If you have any requests I'm open to ideas. I am back at university again but I will try to keep to Monday, Thursday and Saturday uploads as much as possible. Thanks again.**

 **\- EmptyFridges**

"Monocrystalline silicon ingots can be produced using what?"

*Ding*

"The Nernst method" Flash almost shouted a smug smile dancing on his lips.

"Wrong. Anyone else." MJ responded sharply. She had to swallow a grin at Flash's put out expression when Peter immediately buzzed in.

"the floating zone crystal process."

"Correct."

The rapid-fire questions continued for another ten minutes until MJ had asked all the questions on her cards. "So practices Monday through Thursday next week then a day off before the competition Saturday, I better see all you losers here for every practice." Peter cringed slightly as almost the whole team turned to look at him as one.

"Hey I haven't missed a practice in ages!" he defended himself. It was true as well, as soon as his mum found out he occasionally skipped practice to go on patrol she scolded him and forbid him from ever doing it again unless the world was quite literally ending in which case he wasn't allowed to be Spiderman anyway and was to head straight home. He had to sit through a twenty minute lecture from her on the importance of teamwork and the importance of commitment, he had almost been reduced to tears when she told him how disappointed she was in him and how she was disgusted he could let his team down like that. She had threatened to get Happy to escort him to practices and sit in on them to make sure he wouldn't ditch his team. Just the thought made him shudder he would never live down the embarrassment of having a babysitter…suffice to say he hadn't missed a single practice since that conversation.

Thankfully Mr Harrington clearing his throat took all the attention off himself. "So tickets how many does everyone want?"

Mr Harrington turned to each pupil noting down the number of tickets requested before turning to Peter, he always asked the boy out of politeness but had already written zero next to his name. Everyone knew his Aunt had passed away, it really was heart-breaking the kid had lost so much already but even before she died Peter never asked for tickets she was always working. So when the teen asked for two tickets his jaw dropped.

Peter blushed when the whole room froze at his answer, he couldn't really blame them though he had never asked for tickets not once so he knew everyone would be curious. Eventually his teacher nods dismissing them and Peter swung his bag onto his shoulder and struck up a conversation with Ned in an effort to avoid being questioned.

Unfortunately they hadn't even turned the corner in the corridor when Flash caught up with them, Peter flinched as the other boy's hand came down hard on his shoulder. "So Penis, who are the tickets for? Who have you paid to pretend they care about you."

"Shut up Flash, what's it to you?" Peter grumbled shrugging the boy's hand off his shoulder.

Flash shoved him hard into the wall ignoring Ned's shouted protests, "don't talk back to me Penis. What am I saying? You have no money, whose dick did you suck to convince them to go to decathlon?"

Peter made a disgusted face at the very idea, seriously what was Flash's problem? He kept his mouth shut and let Flash push him back into the wall and spit on the ground in front of him before he turned and left. "Can't hang about Penis, my dad will be here to take me to dinner. You know what that's like?" The boy put on a fake laugh "oh silly me, of course you don't."

Peter simply stood stock still against the wall he had been shoved into ignoring Ned's questions. "Look, Ned, its fine, just leave me alone, anyway I better go Happy gets annoyed if I'm late."

ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ

"You nervous Pete? You're picking at your food there."

"hmmm, oh yeah, a little," Peter replied hardly paying attention, the state final was tomorrow but it wasn't the competition he was worried about. He zoned out as his parents and Uncle Rhodey chatted over family dinner, all week Flash had been claiming Peter either didn't have anyone coming at all so his tickets should be given to someone who had a family or claiming he had had to resort to sexual favors to get anyone to come to the competition. He was just sick of it, the competition would be a relief because he wouldn't have to actually interact with Flash during it as he was only the alternate. But nervous? No, he didn't think he was nervous he knew he knew the material they had been practicing all week. Then again it maybe wasn't the questions or even the competition he was nervous about, he was slightly apprehensive about his parents being there or maybe them not being there? Sure if they didn't turn up Flash would never let him live it down but if they did what if he didn't win? Or got an easy question wrong? Or made a fool of himself? What if they decided he wasn't worth it?

Tony watched his son out of the corner of his eye as they ate dinner, Peter was hardly paying attention and wasn't participating in conversation which was unusual for the boy because he loved Friday Dinners with Rhodey. When Peter mumbled a non-committal response to Pepper's question about nerves he knew with just one look the boy was getting lost in his own head again. "Hey, Peter….Peter." He reached out and tapped his son's hand to get his attention grinning slightly at the deer in the headlights look his boy sported. "Forget whatever you're thinking about underoos. You'll be fine tomorrow we're proud of you regardless of how you do. Me and Pep will be there to cheer you on don't worry, I promised we would be there and we will be, nothing will stop us coming to see you leave every other school in the dust."

Peter smiled at his dad's encouragement, "thanks dad."

"So Peter, what sort of things do they ask at these competitions, I'm gutted I can't come it's just bad timing, when you get through to nationals I promise I'll be there."

"It's fine Uncle Rhodey honestly, you don't need to."

"I want to Pete, now what do they ask?"

ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ

Peter couldn't help the grin that spread across his face when he got another one of MJ's questions correct. "Don't know what you're smiling about Penis, you ready to be seen as the loser you are for wasting two tickets for no reason." Flash snarked when he saw Peter's expression.

"Piss of Flash, you're just sore he knew the answer and you didn't."

Peter grinned at MJ laughing lightly as she shrugged in response.

He just ignored Flash's words, his parents had promised they would come and as his dad said he had never once broken a promise to Peter so why would he start today. In fact both his parents were looking forward to coming, Gregor had brought it up during his internship hours telling him his dad had been going on about it for ages in a meeting the day before…sooo embarrassing. His parents had wished him luck before he left home and told him they would see him after the competition, his dad was worried about press so they planned to arrive as late as possible but promised multiple times they would be there to see him compete.

"Take a break, you've done enough practicing, don't overdo it" Mr Harrington called from his position behind the wheel. Peter grinned at his words relieved to stop for a little while and took his phone from his pocket. Four texts…huh who even texts in 2018?

Good luck kiddo, make sure to tell Tony he's a soccer mom for me – Uncle Rhodey

I'm sure you'll do great Peter, you're a science bro after all - Bruce

Good luck маленький паук, make me proud - Nat

Kid if you don't win you're walking home from school no matter

what your dad says - Happy


	39. State Finals

Peter stretched as he stepped off the coach his neck cracking as he did so, he may be Spiderman and able to quite literally bend over backwards but over three hours on a bus was uncomfortable for anyone. Sure they had got this far last year but he felt much more nervous this year, it was probably because he had people there rooting for him, he knew his parents wouldn't care if they didn't win but he still felt like there was much more pressure on his shoulders. Also after the whole Washington incident last year it felt like the entire team were watching him like hawks.

The team followed Mr Harrington into the large building the final was being held in to check in before grabbing some chairs and setting themselves up in a quiet corner. Peter relaxed into the familiar rhythm of practice, he could feel the pressure on him ease as he focused solely on the questions MJ was throwing at them.

After about half an hour the room was considerably louder than it was when they came in as other teams began to arrive and practice themselves. They had been told there were three smaller halls the earlier rounds would be held in throughout the day and the final two teams would compete in the grand final that evening in the auditorium.

Another forty minutes passed before they were called up for the first round of competition. The team followed the official into a side room where they were to wait until they were announced. "Flash and I have to go find our seats, good luck." Mr Harrington said causing Flash to grimace and pink a little in embarrassment as his spot as alternate was clearly brought up. Peter was relieved however that their teachers close proximity would prevent Flash from running his mouth off, sure he usually shrugged off the things the boy spewed but he didn't want the hassle straight before competing.

Once their teacher left the room MJ turned to the team and declared "if any of you fuck this up you're dead to me and your body will never be found" in a bland tone as if discussing the weather. Peter heard their opponents at the other side of the room fall silent at MJ's words and grinned to himself. They looked perturbed and rather worried, MJ was a genius…although saying that he wasn't one hundred percent sure she was joking. Even if she was he didn't want to be the one to fuck up…mainly because Flash would be unbearable if he took his spot.

Five minutes later the same official from before told them to line up then enter and take their places when they heard their school being called.

ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ

"Tony, you do know being Iron Man won't get you out of speeding tickets right?"

"Well duh, of course I do. Being Tony Stark will though Pep" the man replied rolling his eyes "plus I don't want to be late."

"We left just after Happy dropped Pete at the bus, we will get there before him at this rate, calm down."

"Sorry it's just the first time we're going to see our son do something like this, I don't want to let him down."

Pepper snorted at her fiancé's words "you could never let that boy down, he looks at you like you hung the moon."

Tony hums noncommittedly in response unsure how to answer but does slow down to just under the speed limit.

An hour later they arrive in Albany two and a half hours before their son will even step onto a stage. Tony sighs to himself, logically he knew leaving so early and rushing to get here was ridiculous because now he had two and a bit hours to waste in Albany during which he had to try and remain inconspicuous. They didn't want to be followed and quizzed about why he was attending an academic decathlon after all. He wasn't ashamed of his son, he would show him off to every person he met if he could, Peter was amazing after all but he himself had lived his entire life in the spotlight and wanted to shield Peter from that. If he was asked he wouldn't lie of course but it was easier to just avoid the topic. Reaching over his fiancée he opened the glove compartment and took out a hat and sunglasses earning himself an eye roll from his wife to be.

"Is there an avenger handbook somewhere that says a cap and sunglasses is a fool proof disguise?"

"It's not failed me yet. And it's so obvious people convince themselves Tony Stark would never just use a cap and glasses as a disguise. Anyway enough talk, coffee?"

ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ

"and welcome onto the stage…Midtown School of Science and Technology."

Peter swallowed nervously but looked out into the applauding crowd as they stepped onto the stage and took their places behind the table. Unfortunately the spotlights being used in the hall made it impossible to make out individual faces and he knew his parents would probably sit at the back to avoid being seen. "I can't see my parents either, you never can at these things, don't sweat it dude." He grinned softly at his friend's words, he hadn't even needed to say anything, one look at him and Ned knew exactly what he was thinking. Before he could mumble a thanks the audience were silenced and all attention fell on the question master.

"We all know the set up buzz in if you know the answer, one point for the correct answer and two for a steal" Both teams nodded, the opposition school had presumably also been practising nonstop and obviously won their area competition to get to the state final anyway.

Tony held his fiancée's hand in his own as he watched Peter and his teammates. Sure he had heard the boy practising before with FRIDAY and had offered to quiz him but always been turned down yet he was still amazed at how much the teens in front of him knew. No wonder Peter had to practice all the time this was intense. It did become clear to him fairly quickly though that Midtown were a far better team than Newburgh Free Academy as they quickly gained a lead over them. Each of these rounds leading up to the final would only take half an hour but by the ten minute mark it was clear Midtown were going to go through.

Peter grinned as the final buzzer went signalling the end of the round and their win. He laughed a little as he heard Ned's mom practically screaming with enthusiasm. "You may not be able to see her but she's sure as hell here Ned."

"Ugh so embarrassing." Ned groaned palming his face as they walked back into the side room from before "Tony would never do that to you, it's so uncool."

"Pffft yeah sure, he embarrasses me enough. Last week he thought I was ill and took my temperature in the middle of an Intern Meeting! An intern meeting! It was awful, everyone's started putting their hands on my forehead and cooing."

Ned opened his mouth to reply before being shushed by Abe as another official walked in. "The second round starts in fifteen minutes you're in the same hall here are your phones I'll be back for them in ten."

Peter grinned as he grabbed his phone from the box ignoring the jealous looks of some of the other members of the team at his top of the range StarkPhone. To be honest, his old phone had been perfectly fine if a little battered but his dad had turned up one day with this new one and told him to product test it, which of course meant it was for him and that was a cover. It was pretty cool though, Karen was in it and it could connect to FRIDAY, the only downside was that his parents could hack into it easily and disable it whenever he was in meant to be asleep or doing school work.

Tony blushed as his phone dinged rather loudly. Mumbling apologies as Pep hissed "if that had gone off during the competition I would have killed you, you could have put Peter off." Sliding his phone out his pocket he put it on silent before opening his messages.

We got through, second round starts soon in same hall and third if we get through – Spiderbaby

He was sure Pete would be mortified if he knew that was the name he was saved under in his phone but what the boy didn't know couldn't hurt him.

Well done, you did great, we are in the back row – IronDad

Peter grinned at his dad's message. Sure his parents promised to be there and he shouldn't have doubted them but actual confirmation felt great. He aimlessly scrolled through his twitter and Instagram for a few minutes to distract himself before their phones were once again confiscated so they could re-enter the hall. Game time.


	40. Tough Competition

**Hey. Thanks so much for all the reviews, as you can see my Monday, Thursday, Saturday schedule has gone down the drain but I will try to update twice a week where I can. I know some of you want longer chapters and admittedly this chapter and the last could have been one long chapter but that seemed strange to go from 1,400-2,000 word chapters to one random one at 3,000. So yeah it's unlikely I'll be making the chapters longer than they are currently. Thanks again, hope you enjoy reading this.**

 **-EmptyFridges**

Pepper relaxed as she sat herself down in one of the comfortable chairs in the large auditorium. Well comfortable was a stretch but it was much better than the hard wood ones they had been sitting on for hours during the other rounds of the competition. Tony had already text pretty much everyone that had ever met Peter to tell them his team was in the final but unfortunately they couldn't speak to Peter himself. There had been cases of cheating in the past so after the second round teams were isolated and their phones were kept locked away. It was to start in ten minutes and she couldn't help the bubble of excitement growing in her chest. Two years ago she would have laughed if someone told her the highlight of her month would be going to watch a high school Academic Decathlon competition but here she was.

Peter groaned as Flash strutted into the room. Dinner had been provided for the team and it hadn't been clearly marked it was Cream of and not just normal tomato soup, Cindy had eaten a bowl and became violently sick alarmingly quickly due to being lactose intolerant. So here was Flash.

"Couldn't do it without me I see?"

MJ kept looking at her nails as she drawled back "clearly we can as we got this far and if you fuck this up for us Flash you won't be anywhere near this team again."

That sure shut him up.

ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ

Tony bit his lip nervously, he never expected High School competitions to be this stressful and he wasn't even competing! The final was just half an hour of quick fire questions and at twenty minutes in the teams were very evenly matched. Midtown would have been several points ahead but this kid on the team who hadn't been on it for the previous rounds had buzzed in several times and given wrong answers leading to steals from the other team. Peter had got a lot of questions correct however and had even buzzed in before some of the questions had ended on some of the science ones.

Peter could feel the tension in the air there was only three minutes left and the teams were neck and neck, hopefully there would be several science questions or art and literature MJ was the queen of those, as long as it steered clear of music that was Cindy's best subject and it seemed many of the Emma Willard School team were strong on it.

"This ethnic group was a victim of genocide during WW1"

Abe buzzed in immediately "Armenians"

"This branch of philosophy considers the nature and beauty of expression"

MJ thought for a second before buzzing in she didn't want to cost them points like Flash had twice already. "Aesthetics." She grinned at the ding signalling a correct answer they were now two points ahead.

Tony grinned it looked like the team had it in the bag until they were suddenly hit with two music questions in a row. A minute to go and the teams were drawing once again he found his lip between his teeth as he tried to mentally egg on his son.

"This scientist is called the father of Modern pathology"

Peter buzzed in narrowly beating the opposition team member "Rudolph Virehow"

Ding

Tony did a small first pump to himself and immediately wondered how this had happened to him but couldn't find it in himself to regret it. He was thankful Bruce and Rhodey weren't here to see it though they were still teasing him about having a box of healthy snacks in the lab for Pete and for the whole taking the boys temperature in the middle of a meeting…well more for the latter offence, but in his defence he had looked peaky!

"In this rhythmic characteristic, emphasized notes fall on weak beats"

"Syncopation" a blonde girl from Emma Willard answered.

"This type of music lacks a fixed tonal center"

"Atonal music" the same girl said with a grin.

Peter tried not to let his mind go there but there was only going to be time for one more question, if they got it right it would be a draw and go to sudden death which they didn't want as the questions then revolved through categories rather than randomly which could risk them being stuck with music again.

"Hershey and Chase used these two laboratory tools to separate the virus from the bacteria in their experiment."

There was silence for several seconds and Peter could see a boy from the other team eyeing them up. Then it came to him Tony had mentioned it once in passing months ago so Peter went to press the button but was narrowly beaten by the opposition team. He was confused for a second the boy opposite him had looked lost when the question was read out, after a second he realised it was a time waster. He had buzzed in not knowing the answer and having glanced at their team thought none of them knew. He thought by passing they would win.

"Pass"

Peter could see his teammates slump next to him, he knew they thought they'd lost as none of them knew. He pressed his buzzer.

Tony held a breath waiting for Peter to answer. He had no idea if the boy knew he couldn't remember it being in any homework the boy had done or hearing FRIDAY quiz him about it while doing decathlon practice.

"A kitchen blender and centrifuge."

Half the room erupted at the ding. Peter's answer had put them one point ahead, Midtown were state champions. Peter grinned as his team hugged him practically screaming in his ear.

"How on earth did you know that?" He just shrugged in response too elated to bother explaining and he was sure if he did Flash would just be an asshole anyway.

They shook the hands of the other team offering commiserations and accepting their praise before sitting down once again for the awards ceremony. This happened at every competition and it was the worst, it took forever but the elation of winning would perhaps make it bearable Peter thought to himself. They gave out awards for the best in each category as well as overall most correct answers before giving the final trophy to the winning team. Unsurprisingly the girl from Emma Willard won the music one.

"The Art and Literature prize goes to Michelle Jones!"

The team erupted as their captain stood up to collect her trophy her usual disinterested façade slipping slightly. Once she took her seat again they continued with the awards.

"And the student with the highest overall score in the State of New York is…Peter Parker"

Tony cheered as soon as his son's name was read out snapping a quick photo of the boy whose jaw was practically on the floor.

Peter blushed as his team cheered and slapped him on the back and he was fairly sure he could hear his dad cheering from the back of the room somewhere. He shook the judge's hand as he took the trophy smiling for the camera while being one hundred percent certain his dad would get FRIDAY to hack into a system somewhere for a copy of it.

Once the team were awarded with their winner's trophy they had to stay for a little longer to pose for photographs, Peter and MJ also got some just the two of them with their awards both blushing slightly due to the friendly jibes from Ned. Finally they were able to leave the stage after another round of congratulations to go back into the side room and wait for their families.

They had barely set foot in the room Peter still grinning proud of his accomplishment when Flash started talking. "Don't know what you're smiling about Penis, and why did you even pose for photos who is gonna see them?"

Peter opened his mouth to retort when he heard an angry voice from the other side of the room and cringed.

Tony was furious. He must have heard that little shit wrong…he probably shouldn't call teenagers that but this one was definitely a little shit. "Sorry, what did you just say to him?" In any other situation he probably would have grinned at the awestruck yet terrified look on the boy's face but he was too angry to do anything but glare murderously.

"oh…ummm" Flash sputtered unable to form words.

"Please, leave it, its fine." Peter pleaded quietly blushing furiously once again.

"It most certainly is not fine! I can't believe that little…" A sharp cough from Pepper made him pause "punk said that to you."

"He's just jealous. Leave it. Please."

Tony opened his mouth furious but snapped it shut when Peter took a step forward and grabbed his arm lightly. "Please, dad leave it. I don't care what he says he's full of shit."

The whole room went silent as he spoke every student and parent in the room turning to look at the pair their eyes wide and jaws hanging at the use of the word dad. The quiet was broken after several uncomfortable seconds by Pepper "Peter, seriously? I just stopped Tony using that word."

Peter could hear Ned's muffled laughing somewhere to his right as his mom scolded him in the silent room with everyone's attention focussed on them. "Sorry mom." He mumbled looking at his feet ears burning.

Pepper pulled her son into a tight hug seeing how uncomfortable he was and whispered in his ear unwilling to embarrass him anymore than they had already "I'll let that one slide because it's true, but just this once baby." She could feel her son relax in her arms and hugged him tighter. "Well done." She pulled him away holding his shoulders to look into his eyes. "We're so proud you're dad has already text Rhodey, Bruce, Gregor and Nat. I'm fairly sure he shed a tear."

Peter laughed at his mom's words turning to look at his dad who was just pulling away from Flash who looked terrified and mumbled a quick apology at Peter before rushing off to see his own parents who had just entered the room. Peter opened his mouth to say something but decided he probably didn't want to know what his dad had said to his long time bully. The man looked like he was going to say something else on the matter so he quickly jumped in to distract him. "Did you really cry dad? That's embarrassing. Iron Man. Crying."

"I wasn't crying! It was allergies!" Tony replied with fake outrage.

"Sure dad, whatever you say." The teen replied rolling his eyes.

Tony pulled the boy in for a hug holding him tight. Sure he was still furious about that little shit…ugh I can't believe I said punk, he thought to himself…Steve says punk and he's one hundred. What have I become? The elder man rested his chin on his son's head savouring him, he was angry yeah but his son was his priority. His son who he was immensely proud of…but who he would be speaking about that Flash kid with at some point in the next few days.

"You did so well Peter, you were amazing. How did you know that last one?"

"Oh you told me months ago, when you went on a tangent about Dum-E making you smoothies, you said the only time a blender should ever be in a lab was with a centrifuge Hershey and Chase."

Tony looked down at his son eyes wide. "And you remembered that?"

The teen looked up at his dad in confusion "well of course I did, you said it."

Tony opened his mouth but closed it again quickly fairly sure he would cry if he tried to speak. He simply opened his arms and let his son fall back into them. He turned his head slightly to hear better as Pepper whispered in his ear "I told you he looks up to you as if you hung the moon."


	41. Speak to your Son

"Tony, I think you need to talk to Peter."

"Pep, I talk to our son all the time." Tony replied not even looking up at her from his phone he was currently emailing on.

"No Tony, I mean _talk_ to Peter."

"Um…what. I just told you I talk to him all the time. You literally told us to stop talking four times this evening"

"Tony. I can't decide if you are being deliberately dim or are genuinely this obtuse. You need to _talk_ to him and of course I told you to stop talking we were watching a movie, it ruins the atmosphere." She closed her book as she finished speaking placing it down on her bedside table and turning off her lamp.

Tony put his phone down, turned off his own lamp and lay on his back for several seconds running her words through his head trying to understand what she meant. Talk? She had emphasized talk. He had to talk to Peter…he had to talk to Peter?...Oh my god! He thought to himself as Peppers words hit him like a freight train, he had to _talk_ to their son, their nearly sixteen year old son. He ignored Pepper's light chuckle at his groaning and rolled over to fall into a restless sleep.

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It had been three days and Tony still hadn't spoken to Peter, well he had but not about…that. It was frankly irritating. Tony knew he could talk he was good at talking in fact, he could talk to anyone about anything, he could make the media eat up anything he said, he could run circles around politicians with his words, he could smooch up to anyone at fundraising galas and charm almost anyone into bed. Well that last one he _could_ do but now he had Pepper…and he was one hundred percent sure if he made a move on anyone she would castrate him, a year or two she would have just murdered him but she wouldn't let Peter lose another parent, so castration it was.

Pepper saw Tony shudder out of the corner of her eye, I wonder what he's thinking of? She asked herself. She knew Tony was nervous about speaking to their son but it had to be him that did it, it would be embarrassing enough for the teen having to get the talk from his mom would be far too mortifying for him. Also if she was being honest with herself it was quite funny, Tony was Iron Man and the bravest person she had ever met but he was terrified about speaking to their son about this. She had seen him flicking through the parenting books they had bought so long ago looking for advice and caught him googling for help, and Tony only used google if the situation was dire. She couldn't remember the last time she had seen him so nervous about anything. Her husband-to-be was great with Peter, she loved watching them interact, Tony was brilliant at teaching him things whether it was in the lab, while in the suit or general life lessons, he had also done a great job with speaking to Peter about that boy Flash. Ugh even the thought of Flash brought a scowl to her face, Peter had after a lot of cajoling told them everything and although since the other boy's suspension months ago he hadn't physically attacked their son his words were still cutting. It was only Peter's tear stained face and puppy dog eyes that stopped them from going to his school and speaking to the principal about it and also stopped Tony from ensuring Flash would never be able to attend anything better than community college once he graduated.

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It had been a week since Pepper had told him to speak to their son and he knew he would have to soon. He had been researching how to go about it and what to say, his own teenage years and early adulthood were not something he wanted his son to take inspiration from after all. He had attempted to delay the inevitable but when Peter had come home the day before he had known it was probably getting to the point he had to speak to him. His son had smatterings of dark hairs on his face, he personally thought it was cute but knew the boy would want to shave it soon, it was rather patchy and he himself could remember the mocking he was victim to in MIT when he started to grow peach fuzz and his attempt at a beard was frankly a patchy embarrassment.

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When the bell rang for the end of the school day Peter meandered his way outside to where Happy would be, deep in thought. He was nervous. His dad had been giving him strange looks all week and he had no idea why. The first day he had wracked his brain for anything he had done wrong recently but if he had misbehaved he was positive his dad would have brought it up immediately he tended to be swift in doling out punishments so he could comfort Peter and let him know he was forgiven afterwards.

"Kid are you going to get in or just stand there?"

Peter jumped at Happy's words which pulled him sharply from his thoughts.

"Yeah sorry, just thinking." He said blushing as he climbed into the back seat, he had been offered to sit in the passenger seat months ago but refused he liked it back here, he had space to do his homework and could eat snacks without Happy eyeballing him to make sure he didn't get anything on the seats.

Happy gave a sort of half nod in response "good day?"

"Hmmm…yeah it was fine"

Happy rolled it eyes, it was one of _those_ days. Occasionally Peter would get lost in thought and just sit and brood silently in the back, he would usually message boss when this happened, Peter was his kid after all, but he had been attempting to improve their relationship somewhat recently. Sure in the beginning he really had not been Peter's biggest fan but truthfully it was difficult to dislike the kid, he was funny, kind and to put it bluntly adorable. Their relationship was much better than it had been they could easily talk the whole drive back to the tower but feelings was a whole new territory. "You sure you're okay Pete?" he asked raising his eyes to look in the mirror. He wasn't expecting an answer so was pleasantly surprised when the boy spoke.

"Happy…dad hasn't said anything to you recently has he? He's being really weird, am I in trouble?"

The driver couldn't stop the laugh from escaping him and had to bite his tongue to stop himself from doing so again at the teenager's outraged expression. The boy was right Tony had been acting strangely recently and he wouldn't have known the reason had he not spoken to Gregor a few days ago. They often went for coffee together on their lunch breaks and the other man had told him Tony had come to him asking for advice on _talking_ to Peter. Gregor had two sons both in their twenties so it had made logical sense for Tony to ask him but it was still amusing, Iron Man having to go get help to speak about sex. Actually forget Iron Man, Tony Stark needing advice on talking about sex was mindboggling…then again what that man knew about sex was probably very inappropriate for a teenager and his son at that. Gregor said Tony's face had been redder than he had ever seen it…and that was saying something as the man had once caught Tony quite literally with his pants down about twenty years ago.

"I'm sure he will talk to you soon Pete, there's no need to worry you aren't in trouble." He got a hum in response, clearly the boy was still anxious. "How about we stop for ice cream?" Ice cream was important sure but he could also text boss and tell him Peter knew something was up, surely that would spur the man on to talk to the boy.

Peter wants to know why you are being weird, grow a pair and speak to the boy if you don't want to be a grandfather before you're fifty. – The Happiest bodyguard around


	42. The Talk

Peter's spidey-sense was tingling. Not in the DANGER DANGER way more of a slight prickle as if something he wouldn't like was coming but it wasn't something that would harm him. He occasionally got this response from his sixth sense when he was about to be lectured, but he hadn't done anything had he? He had been racking his brains for a week to understand his dad's strange behaviour but hadn't come up with anything. Sure he was late coming home today but he knew Happy would have sent his dad a text so that couldn't be it.

Before Peter could dwell on it any longer the elevator reached the penthouse and the door opened allowing him to see his dad was sitting on the couch. Swallowing nervously he took a step into the room causing his dad to turn and give him an uneasy smile.

Tony really hoped the expression he just made at his son looked like an awkward smile rather than a grimace. God he felt so unprepared. "Hey, Pete why don't you sit down? We need to talk." He said gesturing to the couch opposite and the snacks on the table, "help yourself."

Peter nodded slowly at his dad kicking his shoes off as he made his way to sit down. Well at least it was clear he wasn't in trouble, even the thought of his dad's office made him nervous as every time he made a poor decision it was where he ended up…and commonly the corner of it at that. "So what do you want to talk about?" he asked after several moments of silence.

"Well Pete, Pep and I have been talking and we've noticed…" he paused for a moment trying to find the words as he looked at the dark growth of hair on his son's upper lip. As soon as the boy noticed he blushed and took his hand up self-consciously.

"Oh….umm yeah, I don't…" Peter started feeling the blush on his face. Ugh this was awkward, he didn't know how to shave, Ben had promised to teach him but he hadn't needed to and then….well yeah. And he was sure May would have given him some pointers or found a video or something like they did at homecoming for his tie but…. "I don't know how. I know I can just watch a video, I was going to sometime. I know it's bad, even MJ commented on it! MJ!" he rushed out keeping his eyes on his hands as he spoke, too mortified to look at his dad.

Tony let out a breath, that he could deal with. "It's okay Pete, I understand don't be embarrassed, I'll help you once we've had a chat I can show you how to do it. Don't worry." He smiled softly as his son nodded a blush still staining his cheeks.

"Thanks dad. So, what did you want to talk about?"

"So…Pep and I have been talking and we realised you're getting older, you'll be sixteen soon. We should have spoken to you a while ago about this, we have known for a while especially after the whole drinking debacle that you are not a child any longer. So there's things you need to know, things to look out for."

Peter furrowed his brows at his dads words "if it's so important why isn't mom here?"

"She thought it would be too embarrassing for you if she was here for this conversation Pete."

What? Peter asked himself what kind of conversation could he be having that would be too….oh my god. No. No, he did not want the sex talk from his dad. Let him die. Let the world end.

Tony knew as soon as his son realised what he meant, the boy's blush returned worse than before and he refused to meet his eyes. He decided it was probably easier to just plough straight on and get on with it.

"So Peter, I know you probably know about my teenage years, heck my life up until Afghanistan happened?" He waited for a nod before continuing. "I do not want you acting like that. Is that clear? If I find you copying my behaviour from that time neither myself nor your mom will be happy." He had to stifle a chuckle at the wide eyed look from his son. "So firstly I'm not saying you have to be in a relationship to have sex but you have to respect what your partner is saying and what they want. I don't care how into it you are if she doesn't want to continue you don't okay?" Pep had been adamant he started with that, she said it was something that was often glossed over and caused suffering for young women the world over, of course they both knew Peter was too nice to hurt anyone deliberately but he was also a teenage boy.

"Okay, so secondly, you need to be safe…"

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Finally. It was over, that had to be the longest half hour of Peter's life. Sure, he knew everything his dad had been saying was important but he never ever wanted a repeat of that conversation and he couldn't be more thankful his mom had opted out, he was sure he would have died on the spot had she been there. He was about to stand up and leave when his dad clapped his hand together causing him to look up at the man for the first time in about twenty minutes.

"C'mon then Pete time to get rid of that monstrosity on your face."

Peter rolled his eyes knowing his dad was only joking with him but got up to follow him regardless. To his surprise they went into the man's own ensuite rather than Peter's.

"I have a bigger mirror." Was Tony's answer to his son's unasked question. "Right I wasn't sure what you would prefer but every man should learn how to shave manually, you can use an electric razor later if you prefer but you get a closer shave with an actual blade." He glanced at his son's reflection unable to stop a grin from spreading across his face at the look his son was giving him. He never would have dreamed of someone looking up to him like Peter did and he would do anything to make sure it never stopped, he wanted to make his son proud.

Peter reached out and grabbed one of the razors on the shelf in front of them but his hand was immediately slapped away by his dad.

"That's pretty much the last step kiddo cool your jets. The best time to shave is straight after a shower, I don't know the reason it just us."

"What!? Tony Stark doesn't know something. Call the press!" Peter exclaims holding his chest dramatically laughing at his dad's affronted expression.

"Yeah so if you just wash your face that will do for now." Tony continued as if he had not been interrupted. "Then shaving cream, this is the one I use it's expensive so it's good stuff, I know you have super healing but if you buy cheap it might irritate your skin."

Peter nodded at his dad's words soaking up all his advice as he copied his movements.

"Pete I know most the hair is on your top lip but just cover your whole jaw, we might as well get it all sorted"

"Ummm dad…why are you doing this?"

Tony turned to look at the boy quizzically "because I'm teaching you how to shave?"

"I know that, I mean why are you putting shaving cream all over your face? You don't need to shave?"

"Pete, it's easier to teach you by showing you, this is how Rhodey taught me, he shaved off his pretty impressive handlebar moustache to teach me so I'll do the same for you kiddo."

Peter turned wide eyed to look up at his dad. "Uncle Rhodey had a handlebar moustache? Do you have photos?"

"Sure thing underoos, right so back to the task at hand. You have to follow the grain okay, so shave from top to bottom so your skin doesn't get irritated. And don't press too hard it nips if you cut yourself. Watch me." Tony did a few strokes at the side of his face where he had only a short growth having the day before. "Start up here okay Pete and remember no need to rush."

Peter stared at himself in the mirror as he shaved for the first time focussing on not cutting himself. He couldn't stop himself from grinning, sure he and Tony worked in the lab together all the time but this was the first time they had done some typical father son thing. Ned had told him all about his dad teaching him how to shave several months ago and he couldn't help but feel jealous. He looked up at Tony's mirror image once again and saw he was staring at Peter's reflection with fondness in his eyes, when their eyes met the older man ruffled his hair fondly before continuing with shaving.

Tony started to panic internally as he got close to his goatee but one look down at his boy who looked up to him like he hung the moon he knew he couldn't let the kid down. With one swift stroke he took a huge chunk of it off before rinsing the blade, as much as he wanted to do this for his son it was probably best to get the painful bit over with.

Peter couldn't help but stare as his dad shaved off his trademark hair, he didn't think he'd ever seen him clean shaven. He quickly got back to work taking off his own pitiful moustache and grinned as he finished up and was once again hairless.

"Rinse your face Pete, then I've got aftershave you can use."

"Umm…dad I've seen Home Alone."

Tony couldn't help but snort. "Kid it nips a little but it's fine, look" He slapped some on himself just as he did every day and grinned. He couldn't help but stare at his own reflection he was sure his lack of goatee would be commented on immediately, he wouldn't be surprised if it made magazines to be honest. He couldn't remember the last time he had been clean shaven, but he would live the rest of his life that way if that was what Peter wanted. Looking down at said boy he smiled "go on Pete, it's fine, you can't even feel it."

Peter looked up at his dad doubtfully but copied him hissing as it nipped his skin and gave the man a mock betrayed look.

"You'll get used to it underoos. You can just use moisturising cream if you prefer." Tony told the boy ruffling his hair before throwing his arm around the teen's shoulders and pulling him close.

"Thanks dad."

"No problem kid it's what I'm here for. How about we go show Pep?"


	43. Questions Raised at Dinner

We are having guests for dinner, can you be home by six please? – IronDad

Well duh, Uncle Rhodey always come on Friday's, it's like the law - Underoos

Rhodey isn't a guest he doesn't count, be back by six – Irondad

Who's coming over? Tell me and I won't tell Uncle Rhodey you said that – Underoos

Dad, are you ignoring me? Who is coming for dinner? – Underoos

Dad, seriously who is coming? Please tell me - Underoos

Tony grinned as he read his son's texts, He would never mute the boy obviously what if he actually needed him for something, but it was perhaps better to keep the teen wondering. Peter's timekeeping was horrendous though no matter how many times they reminded him when his curfew or dinner was, so by not telling him who was coming over hopefully he would be so eager to know he would be home on time for once.

The engineer ran his hand through his hair, SHIELD had been reinstated with Fury at the helm once again after a thorough screening and interview of every employee, that had been about two months ago and now the man was coming for dinner. He had been expecting the call to be honest, he knew Fury wanted the Avengers back together and to be honest a part of him did as well but he had Peter to think about now. He didn't care what the other Avengers said to or about himself, but he didn't want his son getting mixed up in it all. Peter was just a boy no matter what the teen claimed, he didn't want to expose his son to the messed-up relationships of the Avengers. His own feelings for the Rogue Avengers as the press had dubbed them were mixed, he had begun seeing a therapist months ago just as he promised Peter he would and they had discussed the topic extensively. He could understand Roger's point of view but he would never forget what the man had done, he could forgive him he supposed but he had been so sure he was going to die in the bunker in Siberia and that haunted him. Well death didn't haunt him, he wasn't afraid of death it was everything he would have missed. If he had died he would never have experienced family life as he did now, he would never have understood what it was like to have someone rely on you and look up to you the way his son did, he wouldn't have understood unconditional love, he would have died as half the man he was now. And if he died Peter would be lost in the foster system by now, he knew how bad it could be, he had seen the statistics. His son would be unlikely to go to university or if he did he would have had to work to support himself throughout putting himself under so much pressure and that was without factoring in Spiderman, and that was something he would not forgive Rogers for.

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"shouldn't you be somewhere right now Pete?"

Peter swore quietly to himself as he looked at his watch, it had just hit six. His dad was going to kill him.

"I wouldn't let your dad hear you say that kid." The voice said again as Rhodey walked into the lab.

Peter grinned as he looked up from the computer in front of him signing off and shoving the papers he had been looking at into the desk drawer. "Sorry, Uncle Rhodey I'm really getting into programming right now, I didn't realise the time."

Rhodey chuckled as he looked down at his nephew ruffling the teen's hair affectionately, "it's fine, I saw you in here and thought I'd pick you up, I'll keep quiet about the language but the lateness is on you."

"Thanks" Peter said grinning as he fell into step beside the man and immediately launched into telling him about all the work he had been doing. He liked these moments with his Uncle especially as the man had missed last week's dinner.

Tony sighed as he looked at his watch, he was glad he had told Peter six and not half past which was when their guests were coming. He really should nip this in the bud though, it was getting ridiculous, he would have to reinstate the 'sort out your fucking life Tony' protocol…well under a different name of course, Rhodey had developed it years ago and it was the worst. Somehow the man had got a hold of a recording of him singing…he was sure it was from in the shower which definitely broke some boundaries by the way, but whenever he was late for something whether it be a meal or a meeting the recording would blast over the speakers in the room he was in and not stop until he went to do whatever it was. It was embarrassing, it had gone off when he had a woman over once during his playboy days…mortifying. He was positive it would work for his son, especially if it went off while he was in the intern lab, the embarrassment alone would send the kid running home…then again maybe too embarrassing, that was the entire reason the protocol had been shut down after all, he could handle a lot of things but the embarrassment of that recording was excruciating. On that note maybe he'd give the kid one more chance.

Peter swallowed nervously as the elevator opened and he was met with the stern gaze of his dad. "Sorry?" He couldn't help but cringe under the glare he received, "I just got really into what I was doing."

"You didn't think to set an alarm? Or ask Fri to remind you?" Tony softened slightly as his son blushed embarrassed to have not thought of something so simple. "Last chance Pete. If you're late again without a good reason I'm setting up the singing protocol…I'm sure Rhodey has told you about it."

"What…." Peter started before his mouth fell open as he realised "you mean the 'sort your fu…" He stopped speaking as his Uncle's hand covered his mouth before he could finish.

"Yeah, that one Pete. Now go get changed…wear something nice." He grinned as the boy sprinted past angling his ass so he couldn't spank it as he passed him. "Good save Rhodey, so what have you been up to, we missed you last week."

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Peter wouldn't say it out loud but he was intimidated. Mr "just call me Nick kid" Fury was terrifying, he knew it was childish but he had unconsciously moved closer to his dad when the man had walked in and had relaxed immensely when the man placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. The other guy though he seemed nice, his parents were being quite stiff with him however so he wasn't sure what the deal was there but he seemed cool…he was a secret agent so that alone was enough. They were all lounging on chairs in the lounge, they wouldn't be eating for another hour or so which did make him wonder why his dad wanted him to be here but it did seem like they were still waiting on more people so maybe he wanted him to meet them. He listened politely trying not to let his mind wander as his dad talked to Mr Fury about SHIELD and his mum….well his mum seemed to be scolding Coulson about something…Uncle Rhodey it is then.

Tony looked up as the elevator opened once again letting in their final guests. He placed his hand on his son's shoulder steering the boy around the couch as he did so quite literally pulling him from the conversation he was having with his Uncle.

Peter couldn't help but grin like an idiot when he realised who else was coming for dinner. "Thor! I didn't know you were coming. I've not seen you in ages….how's Loki? Is he here? How long are you staying? Can we train together again?"

Tony chuckled at his son's enthusiasm but tensed slightly at the final question. "Yeah, no training without someone else there to supervise, why you two thought electrically charged web grenades was a good idea to try out inside is beyond me. Hi Brucey bear, Nat sorry my son saw fit to ignore you, come sit down."

Peter blushed, it wasn't quite a telling off but still. "Sorry Bruce, sorry Nat, how are you? And those grenades were awesome, you were just being overprotective dad, if you hadn't gone all Iron Man on us that wall would not have ended up with a hole in it." Feeling his dad's hand tighten on his shoulder he frantically changed the subject. "I managed that move you showed me last month Nat, I should totally show you it's so badass." One more look at his dad and he backtracked immediately "well no not badass, cool. It's so cool and I'll show you later, because yeah…dinner."

Pepper swooped in and saved her son seeing as he fiancé didn't seem inclined to help him out of the hole he was digging himself into. "Pete go set the table would you? Use the nice plates."

"Yes mom." He murmured thankful for the reprieve but rolling his eyes internally, the nice plates were first of all horrible and he had no idea why they even had them, Peter had used them a grand total of twice before now and he was sure his dad had only used them a few times himself.

He set the table hardly paying attention when he heard what they were saying in the next room, he froze straining his ears to listen to the mumbling. Usually superhearing was a nightmare but when he wanted to eavesdrop…not so much.

"Tones, are you sure about this? Don't say it's okay because that's what they want to hear. Think about what he did to you, he left you there, Tones…you could have died in Siberia." Peter could hear his uncle's voice break at the end of his sentence and tensed. What on earth were they talking about? Siberia….Siberia….his dad had been in Siberia just after Berlin, he remembered the black eye he had sported and the stiff way he had moved for a while afterwards, he knew something had happened with Captain America but not what had happened exactly.

"Emotions were high Rhodey-Bear, I've forgiven him. It's about more than that, Clint and Scott have families, I couldn't bear being away from Pete for as long as they've been away from their kids."

"Tony…emotions being high is one thing but he left you in a broken suit…if Vision hadn't been able to get into the camera of the suit we would have had no idea where you were."

Peter tuned out as conversation was swiftly changed and a normal volume resumed. He would need to look into this, he knew there had been murmurings of the Rogues coming home but he wanted to know what happened between his dad and Captain America. He rolled his shoulders and schooled his expression as he re-entered the room being careful not to act strange while being deep in thought.

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"Pep, is anything wrong with Peter? He was quiet during dinner."

Pepper smiled at his question patting his leg soothingly as she replied "I'm sure he's fine, it was probably nerves and you know he still gets a little star struck over Thor."

"Yeah I suppose you're right. I'll maybe see if he wants to do something this weekend as a family, god knows it's going to be a busy month with getting them home."

"Honey…are you sure you're ready for this?" Pepper sighed as she received no response from the man next to her in bed, it was going to be a tough few months that was for sure.


	44. A Growing Family

**Hey, I hadn't planned on a chapter like this I just sort of started writing and decided to roll with it. Thank you again for the continued support, it means a lot to me. Hope you enjoy.**

 **EmptyFridges**

Peter grinned as he walked out of school his arms full of books. It was the final day of term and two months and a half months off sounded amazing. Sure, he liked school and usually the summer holidays dragged on far too long but not this year. The other interns had been back working fulltime now the college holidays had started, it had been a dull two months with them then himself having finals which cut into lab time. His dad was adamant interns take time off to study, after all they may be Stark Interns but if they didn't get a degree that wouldn't help them. Obviously the same applied to himself, he was sure his parents would go mental if he didn't do as well as he could do in his exams because he had been messing around in the labs instead of revising. Also, his dad had been hinting they would be able to go away on vacation, he had no idea where or when but he was sure it would be amazing…he had never been away on vacation unless you counted Berlin, which mom had told both of them unequivocally did not count. After all vacations were a time to relax and have fun, fighting in an airport was neither of them according to her…he considered arguing that it had been fun but a frantic shake of the head from his dad stopped that in its tracks. Unfortunately, it wasn't going to be entirely plain sailing, his dad had sat him down a few days ago and told him the Rogue Avengers were going to be pardoned and would be back in three weeks albeit under some restrictions.

"Kid, stop dreaming we've got places to be, people to see."

Peter rolled his eyes at Happy's dramatics, although he would never call them that out loud. He wasn't afraid of Happy, far from it in fact but he was SI's head of security for a reason. In fact, he considered him something of an uncle figure…well not something he was an Uncle figure. He was as close to his dad as Uncle Rhodey was, so that made them essentially brothers…so surely he was his Uncle, but would he be uncomfortable if he called him that?

"How long have you known dad Happy? Longer than Uncle Rhodey?"

"No not as long as James, but longer than you've been alive squirt. I became his chauffer first then his personal bodyguard in 93. We became friends at some point and now here I am driving you about."

"Oh did I cause you to get demoted?" Peter asked without thinking.

"Pfft Peter, are you feeling okay? Your protection is number one, as soon as the co-parenting thing started between May and Tony he changed hundreds of protocols in the tower. FRIDAY is programmed to protect you at all costs. So me protecting you, that's not a demotion kid, it's the highest honour I could get. I couldn't believe Tony trusted me so much, especially after the Vulture incident."

Peter mulled his words over in his head for a moment, he knew his dad loved him and, on some level, knew his wellbeing came above anyone else's in his dad's mind but to know he had decided so as long ago as he had was mindboggling. He shoved those thoughts aside and thought on the rest of Happy's words. "Why wouldn't dad trust you after the Vulture incident? It was just an accident, you're the best man at your job and dad trusts you. You're like his brother aren't you? I would forgive Ned if he did something like that…well as long as it was an accident but y'know."

Happy swallowed past the lump in his throat, this kid was just too much. "Yeah maybe you're right kid, I suppose we are brothers in a way."

"No suppose about it." Peter declared resolutely not allowing Happy to argue, the car fell silent for several minutes before Peter gathered up his courage and blurted out his question just as they pulled into the tower's underground parking garage, he didn't know when he would next be getting a ride anywhere after all "can I call you Uncle Happy then?"

Happy choked unable to form words. Damn this kid.

Peter looked up when he heard Happy make a strange noise. "Oh my god, sorry I didn't mean to make you cry. I won't do it again, sorry Happy." He babbled as he frantically climbed out the car and threw his bag over his shoulder.

"You're fine kid, it was just unexpected." The older man replied wiping his eyes self-consciously, "course, I'm your uncle. You didn't offend me it's fine." He continued ruffling the teen's hair as they walked towards the elevator to take them to the penthouse. "I've got a Lego set upstairs with your name on it…I was saving it for your birthday but what else is an Uncle for if not to spoil you behind your parent's back?"

Peter laughed happily eagerly following Happy to his rooms which by the look of them he rarely used, the only personal effects seemed to be a Downton Abbey boxset and some photos dotted here and there.

"Let's go up to the penthouse, my fridge is empty and your dad will kill me if I don't feed you my very first day as an Uncle."

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Rhodey rubbed his eyes as he walked into the penthouse unsure if he was hallucinating. He had intended to get there before Peter got home from school but he had got caught in traffic then cornered by reporters asking about the Rogues outside the tower. He knew he should have taken the private entrance but he enjoyed the regular public one, he liked saying hello to the employees he rarely saw and he had to organise a meeting with marketing, Tony had made him the face StarkMedical so he had a few things to sort out with them. He had expected to come in and find Peter on the couch watching TV or something equally teenagerish. The boy wasn't allowed to go out as Spiderman for another three days after overtaxing himself between Spiderman, lab time and school work, that was the main reason he came over, he wanted to give the kid something to do to kick off his summer vacation. He had not expected to see his nephew and Happy sitting on the floor either side of the coffee table building a Lego Buckingham Palace with Downton Abbey playing in the background surrounded by chip packets.

Peter whipped his head around as soon as he heard the elevator doors open, his Spidey-sense was silent so he knew it wasn't anything to worry about but he liked to double check. He couldn't help but smile as he looked at his Uncle's gobsmacked expression, after about thirty seconds he thought he should probably say something, standing still for too long was probably bad for his Uncle's leg braces anyway. "Hey Uncle Rhodey, how's it going? Do you want to come and help me and Uncle Happy? Or did you have plans? Mom and dad won't be home for a while they both had meetings about the Rogues and the new StarkPhone launch."

Rhodey grinned at the blushing man behind Peter as soon as he heard the new title the man had gained. "Sure thing, I spoke to your dad earlier, how about we prepare dinner tonight? How do you both feel about tacos?" The cheer from his nephew was answer enough. When the boy ran out of the room an hour later to grab his phone charger before they started cooking he turned to the other man. "I just want to make it clear you are the older brother in this relationship, I'm the hip young one."

"Keep telling yourself that Rhodes, I saw you google what is a meme last week."


	45. Some things are best left alone

Peter knew it was wrong and that he would undoubtedly be in trouble if his parents found out but he had to know why his mom and uncles kept asking dad if he was ready to see Captain America again. The Rogues were due to arrive in four days and he was running out of time, he'd spent the last few weeks working on his hacking skills and even got his dad to give him tips which he did feel kinda bad about now because the man was giving him help to invade his own privacy…but still he wasn't sure he felt guilty enough to not do it.

He was slightly nervous, hacking into his dad's personal files was thought to be impossible and to be honest he was sure if the man hadn't spent several hours telling him the best way to keep data secure two days ago he wouldn't have a chance. Taking a deep breath he set to work, he knew he was looking for a video from the Iron Man suit his dad had worn in Siberia but that was all.

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Tony ran his hand down his face exhausted. There was only four days left until the Rogues returned but there was still so much work to do, it was made worse as he wanted nothing more than to be with his fiancée and son but the endless meetings kept pushing into family time. He couldn't wait for their vacation to be honest, both himself and Pepper had booked a week off from work just before Pete was due to return to school. He knew the teen had never been away before, other than to Berlin but Pep had made it extremely clear that did not count, he didn't know why though the kid had seen some of the sights…sure he wasn't supposed to have but he still did. He had yet to decide where they were going he had never been on a proper family vacation himself, Howard had always put his work before his family and most the vacations he himself had been on were during his playboy days…maybe he should ask someone with kids for advice on where to go. He knew Peter would be thrilled no matter where they went but he wanted it to be a trip they would all remember for the rest of their lives, it would be their first family holiday so he had to make it memorable. He had considered Disneyworld but it was far too public especially while their adoption of Peter was still not common knowledge, he hated growing up in the spotlight and he was desperate to shield his son from that kind of life. He would have to look into it when he had the time, he vaguely remembered reading years ago about a British Prince…William perhaps…the Royal family made a deal with the press so he would not be harassed by the paparazzi while he was at university. At the time he had wished he had been given such an option while at MIT but he was sure even if he had asked Howard to do something nothing would be done. "Stark men are made of Iron Anthony" would surely be his only response.

Just the thought of his dad made his lip curl in disgust, he didn't understand how a man could treat his son how he had treated him. He couldn't stand to see Peter even slightly upset, it broke his heart, he was sure being the one to cause his son unnecessary anguish would finish him. Whenever he punished the boy it was as if he was punishing himself just as much and it would break him if their relationship ever got to a point where Peter didn't like him anymore. Now he thought about it, Peter had been extremely well behaved lately, he didn't want to jinx it but perhaps too well-behaved…

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Peter sighed for what must have been the one hundredth time as he took a sip of his Gatorade. He had asked his dad if he could try coffee a few weeks ago but had been shut down, apparently, he was too young and it would make him overexcited. Him overexcited…whatever...he could be totally chill, last time Thor was over he only asked him six questions before saying hello and letting him inside. Anyway, he was at he assumed was the final wall before he could get access to the videos from the Iron Man suits but he had no idea what the password could be, he had managed to work out it was eight numbers separated into 2-2-4 but that was all. What would dad make his password? It was the final one, he had already managed to bypass the other ones but this one was impossible to skip so it had to be something no one would guess. Or maybe something so obvious no one would bother to try it? It was clearly a date but of what? He immediately typed in 29-05-1970 but was denied. Maybe mom's birthday? He grabbed his phone and googled when his dad's parents had been born but neither of those worked, he then tried when they died but still nothing.

Half an hour later and Peter was about ready to pull his hair out. He had tried everything, he would be so annoyed if he failed at the final hurdle, he had tried his Uncles birthdays, the day of the Battle of New York, his dad's graduation day, the day his parents got engaged, the date they were maybe thinking of getting married…but nothing. He spun on his chair aimlessly and then it hit him, maybe the password had something to do with himself? He typed in his birthday and the day his adoption went through but got nothing, so he sat back and thought. What would be a big event in his dad's life? He had tried all his friend's birthdays and when he had met them but nothing worked…maybe…maybe it was that day his dad first came to Queens to recruit him.

Peter jumped out of chair whooping as he finally got into the server. He felt a twinge of guilt his dad's final password for very important files was the day he met Peter and he was still going to poke his nose in but he ruthlessly pushed said twinge aside…he needed to know why everyone was being so weird. Looking at his watch he knew he still had about two hours until his parents would be home from their meetings for dinner so he started to scroll through the videos immediately. It didn't take him long to find the Mark he was looking for he knew the date he was looking for after all and only one suit fit. When he opened the file for Mark XLVI he grinned. There were only five videos, which to be honest was slightly strange his dad had shown him some videos from Mark II months ago and there were over fifty of those, so only five was a little weird. Shrugging it off he opened the first one, sliding the bar along he could see it appeared to just be a test flight so moved to the second one. It was clear from the first three videos they were not what he needed but the fourth looked promising, it was the fight in Berlin, it was surreal watching himself fight, in fact just seeing the fight from his dad's point of view was weird. By the end of that video he still hadn't found whatever he was looking for as the last time Captain America had been in it the man was fleeing in a Quinjet with the man with the metal arm. He sighed to himself, maybe he misheard or there was another video somewhere, the one Vision had seen. He opened the final video anyway while scrolling through the texts he had ignored from Ned that afternoon due to being so engrossed in what he was doing.

"Stand down soldier"

Peter's head whipped up to stare at the screen at his dad's words, he had never heard him speak in such a way, he sounded weary. He didn't move as he watched everything from his dad's point of view, what was going on? When the CCTV video started playing he had to bite his lip to keep quiet, yet he still couldn't look away. He watched in horror hardly breathing as his dad fought Captain America, he felt numb. It was terrifying watching his dad being hit again and again, he choked back sobs as his dad fell to the ground and he watched Captain America leave him there on the ground with a broken suit.

After god knows how long of sitting staring blankly at a now black screen his phone beeped telling him his parents were due home in half an hour so Peter mechanically removed any traces of his hack from the system and took out his books so it looked like he had been doing homework, but he knew no matter how hard he tried he wouldn't be able to focus on anything other than the image of that shield coming down for a good while.


	46. Suspicions and Rising Guilt

Tony's eyes flew open when his bedroom door opened, he hadn't quite been asleep but he had been just about there. His hand was hallway to his chest to activate his new nanobot armour before he realised it was just his son. It was the third night in a row and it was beginning to worry him. Since Peter began attending therapy his nightmares had fallen dramatically, where it was at one point every other night it had become once or twice a month until a few days ago. Peter was inconsolable, the last two nights he hadn't said anything at all simply cried himself to sleep in his arms, he had refused to let go of him even to go to his mom and neither himself or Pep knew what to do.

Peter stepped into his parent's room tears still running down his face, he smiled softly as his dad moved over slightly so he could slip in between them allowing him to curl up into the man's chest. He gripped his dad's shirt in his hand, he knew it was something children did for comfort but he couldn't help it, he rested his head next to the nanobot casing, he found the blue glow soothing.

"Pete, whats wrong, you know the nightmares won't stop until you speak about it."

The boy tensed trying to stifle his tears, he had kept quiet the last two nights but it was difficult. He was terrified of losing his dad, he had already lost four parental figures he couldn't bear to lose anymore. Every time he closed his eyes he saw his dad dying sometimes it was Captain America's shield coming down on his dad's chest but unlike in the video he had seen his dad died, other times it was both his parents taking the place of Howard and Maria Stark and being murdered by Captain America's friend. He couldn't concentrate on anything and combined with the guilt he felt for invading his dad's privacy he couldn't bear it. He couldn't stop another sob from leaving him as he tried to burrow impossibly further into his dad's chest. "m scared dad, I don't want you to go."

"Ssssh Petey-pie it's okay, I'm here, I'm here. I'm not going anywhere. Daddy's here."

Tony felt his son relax in his arms as he ran his fingers through his hair soothingly, murmuring comforting words in the boy's ear always helped calm him down, it had worked when he was a toddler and he couldn't be more grateful it still worked now. Within minutes he knew Peter was asleep and he smiled softly as he looked down at the kid in his arms. He couldn't deny his son's words worried him, he had no idea what had sparked these recent nightmares. After May had died the boy had several nightmares about himself or Pep dying by they had stopped long ago. It could be the avengers coming back but why would that spark thoughts of them dying…unless…

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Peter was woken up by the smell of food, practically leaping out of bed as soon as he realised how hungry he was he made his way into the kitchen where his dad was standing at the stove making pancakes while his mom sat at the table StarkPad in hand.

Pepper smiled softly as he son walked in and took his usual seat opposite her. He looked pale he had done for a day or two actually but she had asked FRIDAY to scan him and he was perfectly healthy so what could possibly be wrong with him? "Do you want to talk about last night?" she murmured trying to catch the boy's eye but had to supress a sigh as he stubbornly shook his head…he truly was his father's son.

Tony shook his head as he heard his fiancée's question, having thought it over he was fairly certain he knew what the problem was but until he had time to go to the lab and find out for sure if Peter had been looking into things he shouldn't he was unwilling to make any comment to the boy.

"Have you finished your homework underoos?" At the boys nod he smiled, of course the boy had, he always had his homework finished these days, it was a requirement to be able to patrol so he tried to get it finished quickly. "How about you head down to the labs for a bit? You can have lunch with the other interns but be home for four yeah? Pep and I have meetings until then, we can keep the evening free for some family time before the rogues come back tomorrow." He saw Pep look at him eyebrow raised, neither of them had meetings today they had kept the whole day free for family time before the rogues came back but she kept quiet undoubtedly knowing there was a reason behind his actions. Luckily Peter missed the exchange between his parents and nodded before placing his dishes in the sink and leaving, phone in hand, probably texting the other interns Tony thought to himself.

"Want to tell me what that was all about?"

"Sssssh, superbaby has super hearing, wait until he leaves." Tony whispered flapping his arms at her comically.

ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ

Peter had been gone about half an hour by the time Pepper returned to the lounge now fully dressed. "So what was that all about? He's distressed we should be spending time with our son not sending him away."

Tony rolled his eyes at her mothering tone. "Sure, but I think I know what the problem is, I'm fairly sure he knows about Siberia, I'm not certain it's just a gut feeling."

Pepper's jaw dropped at her fiancé's words, "how? We told everyone not to mention it, the press has no idea and despite having FRIDAY wrapped around his little finger I doubt she told him."

Tony coughed nervously as he admitted he didn't know how Peter knew about it just that he somehow did and he sent the boy away so he could take time to find out how he found out. "The information isn't written down anywhere either physically or electronically and we haven't mentioned Siberia around him as far as I know. He started being weird several days ago."

The pair sat in silence for several minutes before Pepper spoke "well, he has been having nightmares for several days sure but he's been acting funny for longer than that, he has been weird since Nick and Phil came over for dinner. But we didn't mention Siberia in front of Peter then, sure it was brought up but he was in the kitchen at the time. Could he have overheard? We don't even know if he knows about Siberia anyway, we can't just accuse him."

Tony nodded at her words "I really am certain he knows though I just don't know how, maybe he overheard that conversation, can you remember what was said?"

"Well, it was mentioned you could have died but that doesn't explain why he is dreaming of losing both of us." Pepper mused casting her mind back to the whispered conversation "actually….Rhodey mentioned we wouldn't have found you if not for the video on your suit. But surely Peter couldn't get into that information, our son is a genius, but I don't know if he would be able to hack FRIDAY without help and Ned is far too terrified of hacking your tech after you took him aside about helping hack the Spiderman suit and messing with FRIDAY the last time."

Pepper startled as he fiancé leapt to his feet "that little shit, I helped him! I fucking helped hack my own suit, I don't know if I should congratulate him or wring his neck."

"I'm not sure you should call our son's friends little shits honey, no matter how angry at them you are." Pepper commented amusement clouding her words.

Tony laughed humourlessly "it's not Ned, it's Peter I helped him last week with coding I told him how to best protect important data. I can't believe this, I'll check FRIDAY's files." He ran his hand through his hair in frustration "how do I even deal with this if it's true? Hacking multi-million dollar suits and AI's is not in parenting manuals Pep."

It was Pepper's turn to laugh as she mulled over what he had hypothesized, as much as she didn't want to think the worst of her son, she knew it was likely true.

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Peter felt awful, he knew he wasn't ill and the only thing he could think of was guilt. He was tired from the nightmares sure but he knew his churning stomach was a result of his actions. He usually felt this way just before a punishment was coming.

"Hey Chloe," Peter started turning to his lab partner of the morning "I know I said I'd be here until four, but I need to go home, straight after lunch."

Chloe nodded looking Peter over with a critical eye, he didn't look sick or anything and she couldn't think of any other reason he would be going home early….but then again….She eyed the boy who quickly blushed under her gaze and began to shift foot to foot nervously. "you in trouble with the big boss junior?" she asked grinning as he somehow blushed even more. She laughed as Peter didn't grace her question with a response.

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Peter was pushing his lunch around his plate barely paying attention to the conversations around him as he tried to formulate what he was going to say to his dad. He was about to make his exit when he got a text, he was going to ignore it and just make his way upstairs when he felt a twinge from his Spidey-sense and his stomach rolled uneasily as he read it.

You better get your spider-butt up here fast kid, you have some explaining to do – IronDad

Dammit!


	47. I don't know what to do Pep

**Hi just a quick note to once again thank everyone for still reading my fic and reviewing. This will probably be the last deadline for 10 days to two weeks as I have a lot of deadlines coming up. But no need to worry I still have plenty of ideas floating around. Thanks again**

 **-Empty Fridges**

Peter couldn't help but wipe his sweating palms on his jeans as he stood in the elevator, he was sure he looked a mess, Gregor had joined him to climb two floors and ruffled his hair in some sort of strange friendly yet pitying way before he had got off. He took a deep breath as the elevator approached the penthouse, from the tone of his dad's text he was fairly sure he had discovered what he had done. Even if he hadn't though he was going to tell him, he couldn't carry around the guilt any longer, he felt terrible. After what seemed like an age yet paradoxically no time at all the doors opened and he stepped out into the lounge where, as he expected his parents were waiting for him.

Tony had to supress a sigh as he laid eyes on his son, Peter looked terrible. He was pale and with the way he kept wiping his hands they were no doubt sweaty from nerves. "Sit down Peter" he told the teen gesturing for the opposite couch, usually when the boy was in trouble he would sit quietly waiting for either himself or Pep to speak so he couldn't help but raise an eyebrow when his son started talking.

Peter spoke to his hands clasped in his lap, he was to ashamed to look his parents in the eye as he spoke. "I've done something bad, I'm sure you know…I was about to come up and tell you though. Honest! Ask Chloe I told her as I ate lunch I was going to come home straight after so I could speak to you." Peter stopped speaking there trying to find the courage to continue.

"We believe you Peter don't worry. Now look up and tell us about what you think we know you did. You've disrespected your dad enough you should at least have the courtesy to look us in the eye." Pep told her son her tone turning from placating to stern as she did so.

Peter nodded jerkily and lifted his head to look at the two opposite him, he knew tears were pooling at the corner of his eyes but didn't bother wiping them away, he was positive he would end up crying regardless. "When Director Fury and Agent came over for dinner…"

Pepper couldn't help but roll her eyes fondly at her son's name for Phil, although to be fair when Peter said it the man didn't mind it was just Tony that bothered him.

"…yeah so when they came over and I went to the kitchen, I heard Uncle Rhodey ask about Captain Rogers, I heard him say he left you to die. So I tried to find out what he was talking about. I tried Google but didn't get anything so I thought I could try and see the video from your suit, the one Vision saw." He took a breath but soldiered on, he was sure if he stopped speaking he wouldn't be able to start again. "I hacked FRIDAY" he rushed out flinching slightly as his dad's glare impossibly became even more severe at the admission "I bypassed the first few walls to get in then just kept guessing dates. I can't believe you have the day we met protecting Iron Man videos by the way dad" his voice cracked there as his guilt came back full force, he really had betrayed his dad using his love for him against him. He pulled his knees up and resting his chin on them hugging his legs as he did so. "I knew what suit you had at the time so I just kept flicking through the videos until I found the one from Siberia." He stopped talking finally as tears ran down his face freely.

Tony sighed, audibly this time, "right Peter, we need to discuss this, I want you to go and find a corner in my office."

Peter nodded shakily but did as his dad told him wiping his eyes with the sleeve of his hoody as he went.

"Fri soundproof my office." Tony demanded, their son had eavesdropped on them before he didn't want it to happen again. He turned to look at his fiancée "I don't know what to do Pep, I can't spank him, he didn't put himself or anyone else in danger really, it seems wrong, he's fifteen I can't spank him every time he steps out of line."

Pepper nodded at his words, she had been thinking the same. "We can't let it go unpunished either though, we need to nip this in the bud, a lot of important things are discussed here, we cannot let him think eavesdropping is okay. We should probably also take into account that he came clean about what he did, he was on his way to tell us, we can't forget that."

Tony nodded, he agreed wholeheartedly with her, their son was terrified of what he had seen, his nightmares made that clear as day. He had read countless parenting books when his relationship with Peter had started to become more familial than that of a mentor and protégé but nowhere was a situation like this mentioned. "He's grounded, that goes without saying." He declared he knew Pepper was probably thinking the same but it was always best to make sure they were on the same wavelength especially concerning their son. "although what he did was wrong and disrespectful he didn't intend it to be, sure he stuck his nose in places he shouldn't but he didn't do it with malicious intent, so I think…"

ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ

Peter sniffed softly once again wiping his tears with his sleeve. He did feel slightly better after admitting what he had done but he still felt awful, he knew his dad had soundproofed the room somehow and that made him feel even worse. Usually he could hear murmurings or something when people were in the next room, not actual conversations unless he actively tried to listen but dull murmuring was like background noise at this point, he was unaccustomed to complete silence and it unsettled him. He shifted slightly as his legs became sore from standing still for so long…why on earth were his parents taking so long? They never left him standing in the corner this long it had been almost half an hour already. What were they discussing? Were they blocking his access to FRIDAY? Were they checking if he had looked into anything else? Were they going to call SHIELD and tell them he knew about Siberia?

Tony's heart broke as he stepped into his office quietly. Usually Peter would have heard him enter due to his enhanced senses but that was clearly not the case this time, he doubted Peter could hear anything over his heart-wrenching sobs. His son's shoulders were shaking as the boy cried into his hands still standing in the corner. "Peter" when he got no reply he tried again but his son was clearly too worked up to pay attention. He took a few steps forward and gripped his son's shoulder so he could turn the boy and pull him into his chest. Peter's hand came up to grab his shirt and he couldn't help but smile softly at the gesture despite the damp feeling quickly spreading across his front. He ran his fingers through the boy's curls just as he did when he had a nightmare and stroked soothing circles on his back to soothe him. "ssssh Pete, no need to cry. I'm here, it's fine. Dad's here." It was another five minutes before his son calmed down enough to pull away.

Peter didn't want to pull away from his dad but he knew he had to eventually. He couldn't believe the older man would soothe him like that after he had broken his trust in such a way.

"Pete, I will always be here to calm you down. Always." Tony promised hiding a smile as his son jumped slightly, he clearly hadn't realised he had spoken his last thoughts aloud. "Let's sit down, we need to talk about this underoos." He led the boy to the two comfy chairs in the corner and once again hid a grin as he saw the boy relax slightly. He had learned early on that it was important to keep punishments separate from everything else to avoid confusing his son which was why whenever he punished the boy it was in this room and why whenever he spanked him it was in the chair behind his desk, clearly Peter had realised this too. Once the boy was sitting comfortably and met his eyes he began talking. "Peter, I want you to know how proud we both are that you came forward and told us what you did, but that does not negate the fact you did it, okay?" at his son's nod he continued "what you did was extremely disrespectful, you would be hurt if we looked through your personal things and that's exactly what you did to me. Even if I had never expressed you couldn't look at them the presence of so much security would have told you clearly enough. Also, you tricked me into helping you, I helped you because I wanted to teach you something new, something I thought you were interested in and you used me. That hurts Pete, that's what hurt the most in fact."

Peter started crying once again as his dad spoke, his words were cutting deep and he had never felt more shit in his life.

Tony knew his son was hurt by his words but he continued, Pepper was right they had to nip this in the bud. "Your eavesdropping was what started this Pete, I know you have enhanced senses but Rhodey whispered what he said that day and I know you must have strained to hear his words, your listening in was no accident. This cannot happen again. Important things are spoke about here, both here at home and in SI in general, things you don't need to know or don't need to worry about, you cannot just listen in to other people's conversations. I never thought that was something I would need to be telling you, you're fifteen now kid, you should know better. Even if you had just overheard what was said, you should have asked me or your mum about it, if we thought you should know we would have told you. Your meddling just resulted in you being in trouble and you have terrified yourself. We don't keep things from you to be mean, we do it to keep you safe, whether from harm or nightmares."

"I'm sorry dad, really I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to use you like that, I didn't think…"

"That's exactly it Pete, you didn't think, if you had spent even five minutes thinking how your actions would affect others you wouldn't be in this position now. The rogues are back tomorrow and this is not how I wanted to spend our last day before they returned."

Peter nodded sadly at his dad's words hiccupping softly.

"Now your punishment, you are grounded, that goes without saying. For the next five days you cannot leave the penthouse, also you are banned from your internship and all labs for two weeks, I know you earned your right to be there but you used what you learned there wrong, if any other intern had used what SI taught them to hack into someone's personal files they would be fired Pete, this is serious. Also you cannot use your laptop for anything other than school work while you're grounded and you can only do so if myself, Pepper, your Uncles, Bruce or Nat is there to see what you are doing. And finally to keep you busy I want an essay, 1500 words on why eavesdropping is wrong and the consequences."

Peter nodded sullenly at his punishment, he couldn't really argue with what his dad said especially when he had been so horrible. "Yes sir."

"Pete, I know what you saw scared you and that was why I never told you about it, but do you have any questions?" When the boy shook his head he sighed softly, he decided to just let it go but knew it would probably come back to bite him in the ass at some point. "Okay, if you're sure. But remember you can come to me anytime and talk to me about anything, if I can tell you the answer I will."

"I know dad, I'm sorry, really." Peter said imploringly his eyes impossibly wide as they looked up into his dads.

"Good boy, now I heard Pep say something about movie night, how about you run and get into some pyjamas and we can watch a film and get a takeaway."

"Thank dad, love you" the boy said falling into his dad for a quick hug before running out of the room to change.


	48. Nerves

Tony couldn't help but sigh as he lay in bed, he had managed to get a few hours of sleep but he knew he wouldn't be getting anymore tonight. He was nervous about the rogues coming back, he hadn't seen any of them since the fight in the airport and now they were staying in the tower for three weeks as upgrades were being done in the living quarters of the compound. It was true the entire team had at one point all lived in the tower but it was no longer possible, he wanted to keep Stark Industries separate from the Avengers but more than that he had a family now, a real family and despite Peter being a superhero he didn't want him exposed to the risk of living with the Avengers, he also had a huge workforce in Stark Industries and he felt it a disservice to put them and New York City as a whole in more danger than necessary.

He looked over at his fiancée next to him in bed a soft smile on his face as he did so. He would never know what he did to deserve such a loving family but he knew he would do anything to protect them. As if she could sense his stare Pep opened her eyes lazily and smiled up at him.

"You okay?" she murmured still half asleep, "why are you awake?"

"ssssh nothing Pep, just thinking, go back to sleep love. I love you."

He grinned softly as she closed her eyes once again and was asleep in seconds before he climbed out the bed careful not to jostle her. Grabbing clothes blindly from the wardrobe he made his way to the kitchen for coffee. Surprisingly a child coming into his life had made him cut down on his caffeine intake and improved his sleeping habits. He had honestly never felt better than he did now, he was physically in better shape than he'd been in years and he had been seeing a therapist weekly for months now, since he had agreed to go if Peter went. He was, for the first time in a long time, truly happy and that was why he was so worried about the arrival of the other Avengers in just a few hours. He was worried he himself wouldn't be able to cope but also he was worried about his son. He was worried the others would hurt him in some way…it was illogical sure but still he couldn't get the thought out of his head, also he didn't want to admit it but he was insecure. He was terrified when the others arrived Peter would see Captain America and change his mind about having him for a dad, he was worried he would lose his son to the Rogue Avengers, and that was what was keeping him up.

"Dad? Why are you here? Are you okay?" Tony nearly dropped his mug he was so surprised, he usually knew whenever someone else walked into the room but he had been too deep in his own head.

"I'm fine Pete, I just couldn't sleep. What are you doing up?" He sighed as his son just shrugged in response but put down his now empty cup and lifted his arm so Peter could curl up next to him. He smiled softly as he rested his chin on the teenager's head. He knew the boy would speak up soon with what was bothering him so he simply made himself comfortable and waited silently.

"Dad….do I have to like them? Because I don't think I can. Well maybe Falcon and Hawkeye are okay and that giant man but I don't have to like Captain America do I?"

Tony withheld a sigh and held his son tighter against him as if his hug could keep him safe from anything and everything that could possibly hurt him. "No. You don't have to like him. You don't even really have to see him, they are all staying two floors down on the spare one below Bruce and Nat. You'll have to see them today, everyone is coming here for dinner but that's it."

Peter nodded into his dad's chest unable to hide his relief as his whole body relaxed. At one time he had been a huge fan of Captain America but after seeing what he had done to his dad he couldn't stop the anger from bubbling up inside him each time the man was mentioned.

"Pete, you don't have to like any of them, but you have to be polite okay? They are my colleagues….friends even, just please don't do anything rash." He felt Peter nod once again into his chest, "how about we rest for a little longer? We can make breakfast for Pep in a little while."

ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ

"Send a photo of that to my phone Fri" Pep ordered as she walked into the lounge to see her two boys curled up together on the sofa. She had been worried Tony had gone to the lab which could be almost impossible to get him out of again when he hadn't come back to bed but after checking Pete's room she knew they had to be together. They both took comfort and strength from each other and she was sure the two of them needed both of those in spades today. It was now half eight and the Rogues were due at ten, she had already contacted the tower security teams who said it was getting busy outside the tower as people and press arrived to get a glimpse of the returning heroes and had made sure rooms would be ready for everyone.

"Hey, it's time to get up"

Tony grumbled in response to his fiancée's statement pulling his son in closer while Peter peeled his eyes open. "Five m're minutes mom."

"I've made bacon rolls."

She grinned as both her boys shot to their feet almost tripping over each other to get to the kitchen first.

"Once you're finished you both need to get dressed…." She held her hand up before Tony could interject "no Tony, you can't meet the others in sweats, think about how that will look…no it doesn't have to be a three-piece suit, just wear a t-shirt and a jacket." She ignored his grumbling as she looked at their son "Pete, we'll be gone for an hour tops okay, Uncle Rhodey will come up straight after the press conference to see you while we get them settled. He knows you're grounded so undoubtedly has some sort of gift for you."

Peter grinned at her words, as much as being grounded sucked his Uncle often gave him a gift so he had something to do while he was on restriction. Obviously, he had to endure another lecture more often than not but for new Lego kits it was probably worth it…well actually he had really hurt his dad this time it probably wasn't, Uncle Rhodey had the disappointed stare mastered.

"It's fine Pete, don't look so worried, he won't tell you off too much." Tony assured the boy correctly guessing what he was feeling, he himself had been the recipient of Rhodey's disappointed looks and his lectures could reduce anyone to tears. "Go get dressed and remember you're already grounded so I want your best behaviour."

"Ugh yes dad." Peter replied rolling his eyes at his dad's words as he turned away then yelping as his dad smacked him.

"What was that for?" He demanded angrily turning to look up at the man.

"Really? You're really asking that? Watch the attitude Pete, just because you're nervous about our guests doesn't mean you can give us attitude young man."

Peter blushed as the anger left his body and he looked down at his toes. "Sorry dad. I'll be on my best behaviour." He replied as he gave him a quick hug before turning to head back to his room to change.

"Peter," he stopped and turned as his mom shouted his name "you need to tidy your bedroom before they get here, we've let it go so far but it's a pigsty in there."

Peter sighed and rolled his eyes once again as he mumbled to himself, "why does my room need to be tidy? Is anyone staying in my room? No. Will anyone see my room? No…"

"Do you want to come back here and repeat that Underoos?"

"No sorry dad. Won't happen again, I'm tidying now."

Tony rolled his eyes at his son's words not truly angry. "He's something else our son. What do you think the others will say when they meet him? Wait do they even know about him? You told them about Pete didn't you Pep?"

"What no? I thought you were telling them?"


	49. New Arrivals

Peter sighed as he picked his dirty socks up from the floor, he didn't get why he had to clean his bedroom but he definitely didn't want a scolding from his parents when they returned…he had been in trouble the first time he met Uncle Rhodey and when Bruce and Nat first arrived at the tower, he didn't think his mom and dad would be impressed if he went three for three. Well he hadn't been in trouble first time he met Thor and Loki but then again he hadn't really been capable of speech he was so star struck by them. With that in mind he grabbed his muddy trainers and left them in the cupboard by the front door, he was sure his mom couldn't have seen those, last time he wore muddy trainers in the house she made him wash every pair of shoes he owned and then the carpets he tracked mud into…and the ceiling incident didn't bear thinking about.

Twenty minutes later his room was tidier than it had been in quite a while…huh maybe mom was onto something about it being a pigsty he thought to himself. Knowing he couldn't use anything connected to the internet without his parent's presence he grabbed a bag of chips from the kitchen before jumping over the back of the couch and making himself comfortable so he could watch the Rogue's arrival.

ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ

Tony tightened his grip on Pepper's hand as he stood on the small stage that had been set up for the other's arrival. He zoned out as Secretary Ross droned on about the newly revised accords and all the hard work he had put into them…which was absolute bullshit, the man had kicked up a fuss at every tiny change put forward and if it wasn't for the UN outvoting the man he was sure his teammates would not have been coming home today. With a sideways glance at Bruce who he could see he had also zoned out as Ross continued to prattle on he smiled and looking to his other side he had to suppress a snort, at least Bruce tried to look like he cared, Thor (who had arrived literally seconds before they all came out to stand here) was yawning rather dramatically and waving at a small group of children in the crowd. He was jealous of Peter to be honest, the boy didn't need to be here, after all Spiderman wasn't an Avenger and the general public had no idea himself and Pepper had adopted him, so yeah the kid was probably having a great time not being here…actually Pete couldn't use the labs or internet or really anything so maybe not.

Finally, after what seemed like an age, Ross stopped talking and Tony stepped forward to say a few words of his own. He knew the car the others were arriving in was just minutes away and he couldn't really decide how he felt about it. Apprehensive? Excited? Nervous? Relieved? Taking a steadying breath, he moved to stand behind the podium.

"I would just like to thank you all for being here today. It has been difficult in the aftermath of what has been dubbed the Civil War…who came up with that by the way? The Walmart parking lot fight sounds sooo much better." He had learnt about that from Peter months ago and he absolutely loved it…Civil War was so intense and violent….which to be fair it kind of was but still…technicalities. "As everyone undoubtedly knows in the past months we have all worked hard to make changes on the accords and now today the Avengers are here to reunite as a team once again." He couldn't help but grin as the audience cheered at his words and everyone seemed to turn as one as a car turned the corner seconds later carrying 'Team Cap'. He felt Pepper hold his hand and turned to give her a quick kiss as he waited to see the others for the first time in what seemed like forever. So much had changed since he had last seen them after all. He was a different man now.

Pepper felt Tony's grip tighten for a second before he dropped her hand and took a step forward as the door opened and Steve stepped out. She wasn't sure how she felt about the man to be honest, she could understand his actions to a degree but she would never forget what he had done to her man. His actions could have killed Tony and by extension the life they now lived, her, Tony and Peter. She made sure her emotions didn't show on her face however, she was a professional after all, she dealt with people she didn't particularly like or agree with on an almost daily basis and she knew the importance of showing a united front today.

Tony felt his breath catch as Steve stepped out of the car but he stepped forward regardless and shook the man's hand, he looked the same as ever, T'Challa had mentioned a beard last time he spoke to the King but there was no sign of one now. A more genuine smile crossed his face as he saw Clint step out next, as much as they often argued he was still fun to have around and not to mention a fellow dad…although Clint didn't know that yet but still. He pulled the man in for a half hug before letting go so he could make his way to Nat, god forbid anyone that keep the spy twins apart for much longer. He exchanged pleasantries with Scott, after all he didn't really know the man although from his file he knew he was an engineer of some kind and currently out of a job so he would probably look more into that later on. He gave Sam a brief hug before giving Wanda a familiar kiss on the cheek, he wasn't particularly comfortable with her and still had the occasional nightmares from the visions she gave him although now they included his son as well but he knew better than to appear anything other than friendly in front of the press. "Vision was doing some last minute work in your rooms, he's waiting for us upstairs" he assured her when he saw her eyes begin to roam around looking for the android and let a small grin cross his face as she gave a heartfelt thanks. He could see the tension leave her body, he knew he would have been extremely distressed if he came home after months away and Pepper wasn't there to greet him.

Once hellos had been exchanged he moved back towards the podium to stand next to Steve knowing this was the photo that would probably be on the front pages tomorrow. Himself and Steve, standing together shoulder to shoulder….well sort of…god he hated being tiny sometimes. They stood for several more moments as the press took photos before Steve thanked everyone again for coming and supporting them with a promise nothing would divide the Avengers again…which to be honest was a bold statement to make but he supposed it was what the people wanted to hear and also one he himself hoped was true. With a final thanks and wave to the cameras the team, together for the first time in a long time made their way inside Stark Tower.

ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ

Peter turned off the TV when everyone walked inside, he wasn't particularly interested in hearing what the people on it had to say about the Avengers being together again after all. Also, they kept saying his dad and Rogers were like brothers, but he knew no one would treat their brother the way Rogers had his dad. Himself and Ned were brothers as were dad and Uncle Rhodey or Uncle Happy and dad, Loki and Thor too….well that was different but now they seemed like brothers, as far as he knew Loki hadn't tried to stab Thor for like a month and for them that was amazing.

Moments later he hears the elevator opening and backflips over the couch to face it having heard his Uncle's leg braces from two floors away.

"If your mom catches you doing that she'll be the one flipping Pete."

"She prefers it to when I jump onto the ceiling actually, so…."

"That's because that's fucking creepy kid and it took forever to get those footprints off the roof."

Peter waved away his Uncle's words supressing a shudder at the memory of his mom's face when she saw the dozens of footprints he had left on the ceiling, that was the primary reason for the shoes off at the door thing…speaking of which. "Your shoes are still on Uncle Rhodey, mom will definitely flip if she sees that." He raises the pitch of his voice in a poor imitation of the woman as he continues "I cannot believe you would wear dirty shoes in this house Rhodes! You know better!"

Rhodey snorted at his nephew. "Pete…we both know you have a higher voice than your mom" he says laughing as the boy pouts adorably and crosses his arms making him look much younger than he is.

"Anyway, I've got a gift for you my favourite nephew."

Peter rolled his eyes "I'm your only nephew! Saying that won't make me say you're my favourite Uncle…although maybe if you don't give me the stare of disapproval you could be."

"Nice try kid. Tones already spoke to me, you're off the hook with me but don't do anything like that again. You hear me?" When he received a nod he opened his bag and threw a box at the teen.

Grinning at his uncle now he knows he won't be in any trouble with the man Peter took a look at the box in his hand and almost dropped it in surprise. "Oh my fucking god! No! Oh my Jesus and all that is holy." He didn't even blink when his Uncle cuffed his head for his language as he looked at the Lego Spiderman set in his hand like it's a precious treasure. "This is awesome! Can we do it now, yeah? This is so cool, how did I not know about this?"


	50. Getting Reacquainted

Steve didn't know what to say. Everything that had happened in the last few weeks was just too much, he never would have expected to be pardoned especially after what he had done to Tony. Just thinking about Siberia made him feel sick, he had spent the first month in Wakanda afraid every time the news came on that it would be reporting on him attacking Tony. He knew he was Captain America but the public seemed to take Tony Stark as one of their own, not Iron Man but Tony Stark himself. The reason for that had baffled him for years, he would look at Tony and not understand how the public were so behind him. When he first met the man he had read up a little on him but that was all, he had mainly read about the scandals he had been involved in and when he first met him he had been unimpressed with his attitude, what with hacking into shield moments after arriving on the ship. It wasn't until he was in hiding after the Civil War that he truly found out who Tony was, he found out about all the charities the man supported through the Maria Stark foundation and just how much of his own money he put into efforts to rebuild places the Avengers had destroyed. Curiously in recent months his donations to projects affecting under privileged kids and projects in Queens had grown dramatically, he didn't think people would have noticed if they hadn't been following it as closely as he was but it was still notable. After that the public's love for the man became clear, he knew that had Tony gone public with what had happened in Siberia he would have never been pardoned, in fact he would be lucky not to spend the rest of his life behind bars. But then again, Tony wasn't like that, the man wasn't vindictive, he also put so much effort into protecting those he considered friends and he supposed maybe on some level Tony still considered him one.

Also, the pardon Tony had managed to get for them was nothing short of amazing. He doubted he would ever be able to thank him enough. He had been worried about jail time or something similar but they had all just been put under house arrest unless the Avengers were called for a mission. They had to stay in either Stark Tower or the Avengers compound at all times, unfortunately this also applied to Clint and Scott despite having their own homes and families, but Ms Potts had been quick to inform the two men their families were free to visit and would in fact arrive in two days' time. Their rooms as well were amazing, clearly a lot of work had gone into them to make them all feel at home, he had been touched to find a desk full of art supplies in his room and all the clothes and other random items he had left at the compound had been placed in the wardrobe and on the shelves. Seeing Sam's and Wanda's expressions he knew he wasn't the only one to find such things.

Tony stood in the lounge area uncomfortably as the new arrivals looked around their new rooms, he wasn't too sure what to do with himself so settled for wandering around the lounge to see if they had forgotten something obvious. This floor had once been used for storing Avenger's gear and was simply a large open space, so he was honestly amazed with the changes to it. He hadn't actually been here himself, Pep and Rhodey had decided how it would look and got everyone's things moved in, all he had done was fund it. However the exclamations of surprise he had heard in a few rooms and whistle of appreciation from Clint told him they had probably done enough. And he still had no idea how to bring up Peter, he couldn't just stop them meeting his son, sure Peter was grounded and not allowed into the labs for a further week after that but they would surely still come across him and it wasn't fair to Peter to be made to hide in his own home. He was surprised Thor hadn't mentioned him yet to be honest, he usually asked about Peter as soon as he arrived but he supposed the arrival of the others had distracted him.

"Where did Rhodes disappear off to? I wanted to speak to him about….well…."

Tony winced ever so slightly as Sam re-entered the room, "he doesn't hold it against you, what happened was an accident."

"Still, I need to see him."

"He's um…..busy right now." Tony replied unsure exactly what to say on the matter. He could feel the questioning gazes of Sam, Clint and Steve burning into his skull but he ignored them and took a seat on one of the many couches gesturing for the others to follow suit. He couldn't help but notice they had subconsciously split in half and sat on opposite sides of the room with Thor and Bruce in the middle, just like Berlin. Shaking his head to get rid of the thought he looked up and made eye contact with each member of the team.

"Right, so I assume you already know the terms of your pardons?" at their nods he continued, "the compound is having work done right now so you'll be here for at least three weeks then you can decide whether you want to stay here or move upstate, we will need to go there to train however, there is a small gym here Nat and P-Spiderman tend to use but that's all." He saw Steve open his mouth probably to ask about Spiderman but Thor interrupted first.

"And where is the man of Spiders? He is usually to be found with you Stark. Unless he is…what do you say? In the ground?"

Nat couldn't suppress a snort at the god's words as Bruce tried to explain the boy was grounded and not dead as Thor had made it sound.

Ignoring the quizzical looks from those not in the know Tony continued on, the quicker he got through with this the quicker he could get home after all. "So yes. Bruce and Nat live one floor up, they stay here permanently, with Brucie-Bear working here it's easier for them. Then myself and Pep have the top floor. The one below here has the gym and pool but anything below that my employees use so be aware of that. FRIDAY is installed so if you need anything speak to her of course." Turning to look at Scott and Clint he continued "there's a games room your kids are free to use on the thirty fifth floor, my employees often take their kids there especially now it's the school holidays. There's wi-fi and plenty of games and things, it's totally safe FRIDAY vets everyone who even attempts to visit that floor."

Steve could see the others nodding out the corner of his eye slightly overwhelmed with all the information Tony had just heaped on them. "A games room? Was that always here?"

Tony laughed slightly "no it's only been here a few months my…someone suggested it to me, he told me his family had struggled to find affordable childcare when he was younger so I spoke to some of the staff with kids and we ended up with the games room….well more games floor but still."

The group sat in silence for several moments deep in thought trying to process all the changes that had occurred in their absence. They had all noticed Tony seemed different than he had before but none of them could put a finger on how exactly, the man was definitely more relaxed but he also seemed somehow lighter and less stressed.

The silence was eventually broken by Clint and everyone's heads whipped around to look at the now blushing man. "Sorry, I'm starving guys."

At that announcement Pepper paled. "That's what we forgot. We didn't know exactly when you would arrive until last week so we didn't put anything in the kitchen, I meant to order something as soon as we heard but well…"

Tony looked at Pep and knew exactly what she wanted him to do, "we have plenty of food in the penthouse, you can all come up and eat with us."

"Why do we need to go up? Can't food be brought down? Surely the kitchen is bigger down here?" Clint questioned confused as the two lovers seemed to have a conversation using only their eyes.

"We can't, we have someone staying and so we are eating upstairs. Take it or leave it." Tony told them bluntly standing up and making his way to the elevator as he did so.

Deciding not to question the clearly uncomfortable man Steve nodded and followed him into the elevator.


	51. A Rocky Start

As soon as he stepped out of the elevator Steve knew something was different but couldn't pinpoint what it was straight away. He had been in the penthouse countless times, all of them had…well not Scott but the rest of them, so he knew the furniture was the same and the setup of the room didn't appear much different so what was it? His musings were interrupted by Clint,

"Rhodes! I thought you were doing some top secret business, disappearing on us like that. But no, you just came here to steal the best seats." Clint teased as he leapt over the back of the couch to sit down next to the other man frowning as he landed on a sweatshirt, was that the name of a school on the front of it?

"Take a seat, make yourself at home Barton, no problem." Tony muttered as he grabbed a bag of chips off the table and helped himself, Steve wasn't too sure whether or not he was joking to be honest. "And shoes off you animal." That had to be a joke especially coming from a man who had open bags of chips lying around his home, he had never seen Pepper or Rhodes eat chips as long as he'd known them, so they could only be his.

"You can't be serious? I've not even been anywhere to get dirty shoes."

"My house, my rules. Shoes off. We haven't got ours on." The man said gesturing to himself, Rhodey and Pepper who were indeed in either slippers or socks.

Steve slipped his shoes off leaving them where Pepper indicated, noticing that there seemed to be a lot of shoes there already. Sure, Tony was a billionaire but there was a lot of shoes and he didn't think Tony would be seen dead in some of those. A couple of pairs were practically falling apart in fact. Shrugging it off he made his way back to the lounge and sat down while the others left their own shoes with his. He relaxed on the couch letting his eyes wander round the room until they landed on Sam who seemed to be trying to tell him something using only his eyes. Raising an eyebrow, he followed Sam's line of vision and blinked unsure if he was seeing things. There was a photograph on the side table of a teenage boy looking uncomfortable, it looked a little like the school photos Clint had shown him of his own kids in fact. He kept looking around the room and saw even more photos of the same boy, some of the kid by himself and others of the boy with Tony, Pepper, Rhodey, Happy or another woman he had never seen before. The boy appeared to be the same age in all of them and judging by the look of his companions had to be quite recent, in one the boy appeared to be in a lab with Tony and Bruce, in another he was wearing a yellow trophy holding a trophy grinning madly. He couldn't tear his eyes off one of the photos of the boy and Tony, the man's arm was slung over the teens shoulders but the most noticeable thing besides the huge grins they were both sporting was Tony's clean-shaven face. He wasn't aware Tony had ever been clean-shaven as an adult, not as long as he'd known him anyway. The goatee was as much a symbol of Tony Stark as the Arc Reactor, it was bizarre to see him without. On the wall were three photos in a row and he had to pinch himself seeing those. Tony was in them with a child, not the boy from before but a toddler. The man looked at ease as he held the boy securely on his hip in the first then was sitting at the kitchen table feeding the child in the second. It was the third that truly blew his mind though, Tony was asleep on what looked like one of the couches in this very room with the child lying on his chest also dead to the world, it was cute, it was paternal almost. It looked fairly recent as well, it couldn't have been more than a year old in fact, so who were these children Tony appeared so at ease with? Turning to look at the man he opened his mouth to ask but was cut off.

Peter barrelled back into the lounge when he heard his dad's voice, he had just nipped away to go to the toilet and grab his phone so he could take some photos of his new Lego. "Dad! Dad! Did you see I'm a Lego? Uncle Rhodey got me it. Did you know I was a Lego? Why didn't you tell me? This is so cool…" he stopped abruptly when he felt eyes burning into him from all directions curling into himself unconsciously.

Tony winced as Peter came running into the room. Well at least he wouldn't have to find a way to bring up the subject now he thought as he pulled his shell-shocked son into his side. Ruffling the boy's hair affectionately he looked down at him, "I only found out last week, I didn't know it was released yet though, I asked for a set as soon as possible, it was going to be a surprise, I don't know how Uncle Rhodey beat me." Turning to his long-time friend he raised an eyebrow. "How did you get that before me Rhodey-Bear? I didn't know anyone could get things before I could."

The man simply shrugged, "I said I would give it directly to Spiderman and that he was a huge fan, they care more about Spiderman getting it than you, Spiderman has Instagram after all."

"Woah. Woah. No." Sam said standing up before Tony could retort causing everyone to go quiet and stare at him. "You're that little asshole from Berlin?" he asked Peter. "You? You caught Bucky's arm. You webbed us to the ground!"

"Language!" Everyone froze as Steve and Tony scolded Sam simultaneously.

"Don't go calling my kid an asshole, especially in his own home. Birdbrain!" Tony continued as he pushed Peter behind him and made his way over to a now uncomfortable looking Sam.

Peter winced as everyone began shouting over each other, Captain America was shouting at his dad for making a child fight for him, Falcon and Dad were shouting at each other, well dad was shouting and Falcon was backtracking and Hawkeye was trying to get information from Nat while moaning that he got stick for keeping his family quiet so why was Tony able to do it? Ant-Man and Scarlett Witch just looked super uncomfortable to be honest, and he couldn't blame them he would rather be anywhere but here. He looked at his Uncle desperately as the noise levels continued to rise with everyone trying to shout over each other.

"Stop! You are not shouting like this in our home." Pepper didn't need to shout to get her point across, but everyone still fell silent at her words. "Sit-down, you are all adults. Act like it." Peter had to supress a wince at her tone and she could see his dad doing the same, whenever she spoke in that tone someone was in trouble.

She stepped in front of the TV so everyone was able to see her, smiling softly as Tony stood next to her pulling their son between them so they could stand as a family. "This is Peter, he is our son and Spiderman. Any questions?"

Team Cap all exchanged nervous glances before Clint spoke up "how old are you Peter?"

Surprised to be questioned straight away Peter blinked "nearly 16." He couldn't see it but knew his dad was holding back a laugh and winced slightly when he realised what he said. Was there any way to sound more childish than saying you were nearly something?

"How did you become Spiderman? Can you talk to or control spiders?" Before Peter could answer Scott's question Sam cut in.

"Does that web come out of you?"

"What no! Ewwww. I got bitten by a radioactive Spider at Oscorp on a tour. And no I can't speak to spiders, why? Wait? Can you speak to ants, that's so cool, what do they talk about?"

Before Peter and Scott could start talking about the conversations had by ants Steve interjected.

"Why did you make your son fight in Germany Tony? What kind of parent does that? Just because you're Iron Man you can't force that on your child."

Rhodey closed his eyes briefly at the question as he waited for the explosion. He saw Scott and Clint do the same, they knew better than to insult someone else's parenting in front of them.

"Hey!"

Rhodey's eyes shot open, he had been expecting Tony to be the one to shout but it looked like Peter had this one.

Peter shrugged his dad's hand off his shoulder and took a step towards Captain America. "You don't get to talk to my dad like that. He didn't force me to do anything. He's great, I was already Spiderman before he even met me, I got my powers and wanted to help the little guy. I decided to do this and I decided to go to Germany. You can't just come in here and shout at him, when you know nothing! You only cared about your murderous freaky friend." Peter's voice cracked but he continued on regardless. "You fought your own team and left dad for dead, what kind of Captain are you? When you didn't get your way you threw a tantrum and you called me a child. I used to think Captain America was cool but it turns out you're just a horrible bastard, you don't deserve to be here. I wish you'd stayed frozen asshole."

At that Peter stormed out the room tears streaming down his face leaving everyone in a state of shock.

Tony ran his fingers through his hair, he knew Peter was upset but he hadn't realised just how bad it was, he had been so worried Peter would be scared of Rogers it didn't even occur to him the teen could be angry. He made to go after his son but Pepper reaching out and grabbing his arm stopped him. "No, you stay here, this is an Avengers issue and it needs resolved, I will speak to our son." Nodding at her words Tony gave her a half-hearted smile before slumping down onto the couch behind him.


	52. Explanations

The lounge remained in complete silence for several minutes as everyone tried to digest what had just happened before Rhodey broke it with a snort. When everyone turned to stare at him…or in Tony's case glare he threw his hands up in mock surrender. "Sorry Tones, it's just when Peter met all of us but Thor for the first time he was in some kind of trouble. He's got a theme going on. He's as bad at first impression as you can be." That comment earned a chuckle from Bruce and Nat on the opposite side of the room.

"No Peter's better than me. I'm sorry Rogers I should have seen this coming" he said looking at the man before addressing the room as a whole, "I apologise for my son's behaviour he's a great kid, honestly. He's just upset, he's had a rough time recently. You shouldn't have had to see that."

Everyone nodded accepting the apology, none of them were really offended by the teen's words after all. Clint and Scott were sure their own kids would do the same in that situation as well, Steve had been out of line.

"I'm sorry too Tony, I shouldn't have accused you like that. It wasn't my place especially in front of your son." Steve said apologetically to the billionaire. "But how did he end up in Berlin?"

"He became Spiderman when he was fourteen and I discovered him through Youtube there was a video of him catching a car, he was clearly enhanced. I managed to find out who he was, I was shocked when I found out his age. I knew he was young, but I didn't know he was still a boy. I was always planning to make contact with him but even more so when I found his age, he was running around in a onesie for Pete's sake! He desperately needed an upgrade, it just so happened Berlin came up and I thought it would be safe. None of us were aiming to kill." He told them imploringly willing them to understand why he did what he did. He felt bad for taking his son to Berlin, in a way he had used the boy but it seemed like a good way for him to gain experience in a low risk situation.

"And his mother?" Sam asked after several moments of silence as Tony seemed to be getting lost in his head.

"I don't know I never met her."

Clint raised an eyebrow at that comment "Stark, you know how babies are made yeah? When a man and a woman….."

"What no. No. He's adopted. He was living with his Aunt when I found him, but she passed away a few months ago so…." He did some jazz hands to illustrate his point earning a laugh from Nat.

"Right…so you just took him in? Just like that?"

"Well yes." Tony replied non-plussed, it had been a no-brainer. "He was my son long before May died, he's the best kid I've ever met. Now If you could excuse me for a few minutes I'm going to have a quick word with my little Spider. Make yourselves at home, there's menus over there tell FRIDAY what you want we'll order in a bit." He told the others as he left the room, everything wasn't sorted but his family came first, they knew a little about Peter, enough not to assume he was a child soldier anyway and it seemed unlikely there would be further arguing for the moment.

ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ

Peter entered his room angrily wiping the tears from his eyes as he did so and threw himself on his bed face down in an attempt to stifle his crying in his pillows. He hadn't bothered closing his door knowing one of his parents would be in soon to scold him, but he couldn't find it in himself to feel bad about what he said though. Maybe saying it in front of so many people and the crying…ugh embarrassing…but he wasn't sorry for saying that to Captain America he had meant every word.

He heard his mom walking down the corridor and couldn't help but let out a breath, he hadn't wanted to face his dad immediately he was sure the man would be furious with him for embarrassing him in front of everyone.

Pepper was sure her heart broke a little when she entered her son's bedroom, Peter had rolled onto his back when she came in and he looked terrible. The boy's eyes were red rimmed and puffy and his nose was similarly red and running, he truly looked his age. "Hey Pete, do you want to talk about what just happened in there?" she asked as she perched on the edge of his bed and ran her fingers through his curls soothingly smiling as he lifted his head to rest on her lap.

"I was just angry mom, I'm sorry. How could he speak to dad like that after what he did? It's not fair. I can't help the way I feel, I shouldn't be in trouble for that." Peter's voice cracked part way through once again.

"Ssssh, Pete I know, I know. You have the right to be angry with him but you can't behave the way you did. You aren't in trouble for being angry with the man. We told you already you aren't obliged to like him but you are obliged to be polite to him Pete. He is staying here for the next three weeks at least, all of them are."

Peter nodded at her words still not looking thrilled. "I hate him mom."

Pepper sighed, "Pete, you don't hate him that's a strong word. Come on now."

"I'm not changing my mind, I don't care if dad spanks me, I hate him."

She knew there was no changing her son's mind, he was just as stubborn as Tony at times.

"Okay Pete you're not in trouble for your feelings but the language you used was deplorable and I know you know that, you've been in trouble for this before and you're in trouble for your blatant disrespect to everyone that had to witness your display right now. Do you understand me?"

Peter nodded mulishly.

"A verbal response please."

"Yes mom. I understand." He muttered refusing to meet her eyes.

"Good. Now I want you to go through to the bathroom and take a seat."

Peter paled at his mom's words as he knew what she meant instantly. "No mom! Please, I don't want my mouth washed out. I'm sorry."

Pepper raised a disbelieving eyebrow at her son. "Peter you know the consequences for bad language, I know your Uncles have been letting it slide but that stops now young man. No son of mine will be heard using such foul language. And don't argue with me, you're already in trouble do you want to make it worse for yourself?"

Peter shook his head angrily, this was all Rogers' fault, if he hadn't come back this wouldn't be happening.

"Go to the bathroom Peter."

Peter heeded his mom's words and dragged himself to the bathroom dreading what was to come. He had only had his mouth washed out the once before and the memory of it made him feel slightly sick. He swallowed nervously when his mom entered the room with a washcloth and bar of soap in hand. "Please mom," he tried once again "I won't swear ever again I promise."

Pepper whipped around from the sink to look at her son. "Peter, so help me god if you try to weasel your way out of your deserved punishment once more you will regret it." She couldn't help but let her anger seep into her words. She knew Peter didn't try to bargain with Tony and she was furious he thought it would work on her. She nodded as her son fell silent clearly chastised and finished covering the washcloth in suds.

Peter swallowed nervously as his mom stood in front of him.

"Open your mouth Peter. You are going to sit there for six minutes before you can spit okay?"

Peter did as she asked grimacing as she coated his entire mouth in suds, it had barely been two seconds and already he was willing for it to be over. He closed his mouth and drummed his fingers against his leg in an attempt to distract himself while his mom washed the offending washcloth.

Pepper had no clue how Tony could do it. She knew their son deserved punishment but she still felt horrendous for punishing him. She turned back to look at her son, his eyes were now closed and tears leaked down his cheeks as he bounced his leg in an effort to take his mind away from the soap in his mouth. She wiped away a tear and pressed a soft kiss to his head all her fury from before melting away. "Sssh, Pete only two minutes left to go."

To Peter it felt like a lifetime as the saliva in his mouth made the suds multiply again and again. He knew he was crying once again but couldn't find it within himself to care, it was just his mom here, he knew she would never laugh at him, the kiss she had pressed to his forehead told him that.

Pepper tapped the teens shoulder so he would open his eyes. "You can spit now Peter." She told the boy and it was frankly astonishing how quickly he moved to the sink and began to rinse his mouth out.

Once he had got rid of the horrible taste in his mouth…or as much of it as he could he was sure the taste would never fully go away Peter turned to look at his mom. "I'm sorry. I won't swear again I promise mom. It was rude and disrespectful."

Pepper blinked in astonishment, she had never been there when Peter had received a full spanking from Tony but the man had told her he was always quick to apologise afterwards, he always knew what he had done wrong. "Thank you, Peter. Now I want you to stand in that corner for ten minutes and think about the apology you are going to give when we go back through for dinner."

Peter blushed scarlet. The thought of going back in made him feel ill. Having to apologise like a little child sounded terrible, he was almost an adult after all. "Mom…"

Pepper didn't let the boy continue she knew exactly what he going to try and do. Gripping the boy's arm she spun him round and activated the gauntlet in her bracelet. She didn't wear it often but she had had a suspicion this morning that it may have been needed and here they were. Once it had activated she brought her hand down six times hard on her sons ass before spinning him back around and forcing him to meet her eyes. "Peter what did I just tell you not ten minutes ago?" When he didn't answer immediately she raised an eyebrow.

"Not to argue about my punishment."

"Exactly, now you've just added another day to your grounding, get your nose in that corner for fifteen minutes."

Peter nodded at his mom's words and quickly turned to stare at the wall. He had been spanked once or twice by his mom before for being rude but that was the first time she had done anything like that and he was embarrassed. He was mortified he had been so rude his mom had felt the need to do that and couldn't stop himself from sniffling quietly to himself.

Tony touched his fiancée's arm lightly to get her attention as she watched their son. He had walked in just as Peter had tried to argue about his punishment and had activated his own gauntlet to discipline the boy but Pep had beaten him to the punch. He knew how much she hated punishing him, he did too but they would not let their son grow up without rules. Neither of them wanted him to become the Tony Stark of fifteen years ago.

"Peter come here."

Peter jumped when it wasn't his mom's voice that called him out of the corner after what felt like a lifetime. He turned around to see both his parents perched on the edge of his bed. "I'm sorry for being rude mom. I shouldn't have done that it was disrespectful." He smiled softly when he received a nod from his mom.

"Peter, dinner will be arriving soon and I expect you to apologise as soon as we go back through but first of all we need to talk about why you said what you did."

"Mom said I don't have to like him." Peter said immediately unable to stop himself.

"I know son. And that's your decision. But you don't need to protect me, I am an adult and you are a child. I don't need you to fight my battles, as flattered as I am. It's unnecessary Pete."

Peter nodded at his dad's words knowing full well he would never not stand up for his dad and he was fairly certain his dad knew the same. "Sorry sir."

Tony knew his son wasn't being entirely truthful with his apology there but honestly what could he do? The boy had lost four parental figures already it was understandable he would be protective of those he still had. He glanced at his watch quickly "right dinner is ten minutes away. Come on Pete, you've got an apology to give."


	53. Apologies

Peter sighed as he made his way back into the lounge behind his dad where the Avengers were gathered. He couldn't stop himself from fidgeting foot to foot, this was going to be sooo embarrassing, he couldn't remember the last time he felt like such a child.

Tony gripped his son's shoulder and manoeuvred the boy so he was in front of him. He could feel how tense he was so pulled him close so his back rested against his front. He knew Peter was embarrassed both by being made to apologise and for his actions, he knew his son knew what he had done was unacceptable the moment he had done it.

Peter couldn't help but relax as his dad rested his hands on his shoulders, he always felt protected and safe with his dad behind him no matter what. Taking a breath he made eye contact with Uncle Rhodey, he didn't want to look everyone in the eye and he knew looking at his uncle would make this easier. "I just wanted to say sorry for how I behaved before. You shouldn't have had to witness that, you came here for somewhere to stay and had to witness my misbehaviour and bad language. I was rude to you all and it was wrong of me." He gazed around the room as he finished, he briefly met everyone's eyes, so they could see the truth behind his words, he did however steadfastly avoid Captain America. He would not apologise to that man.

Tony smiled softly as Peter apologised without further prompting, he knew the boy was avoiding looking at Rogers but there was nothing he could do about that. He couldn't make Peter like him after all, hopefully it would sort itself out over time.

"It's fine Peter, water under the bridge." Clint spoke after several seconds of silence. Clearly these idiots hadn't spent much time around kids, he knew how important it was to accept apologies, children needed to know they were forgiven. He had been surprised when he first saw the boy and a few hours ago if anyone had told him Tony Stark was a dad he would have scoffed but the proof was right in front of him. The man seemed confident in his abilities in a parent, the boy had obviously been disciplined just now but he didn't seem overly upset over it and he wasn't trying to distance himself from his adopted parents. Also, the look in Tony's eyes when he talked about his son was the same look he had seen in Scott's eyes when he spoke of Cassie and the same look he was confident appeared in his own when he mentioned his own children. Fatherhood looked good on Tony Stark.

"Dinner has been delayed it will be another ten minutes sir."

Peter saw Rogers jump at the voice and couldn't stop himself from smirking ever so slightly at the man's discomfort, he did earn a sharp look from his uncle but it was definitely worth it.

"So it's the school holidays kid. What are your plans?" Scott asked looking at the teen.

Peter blushed unsure what to say "Ummmm…"

"He's grounded. So at the moment he has none." Tony said bluntly ignoring the incredulous looks thrown his way. Why did they keep staring at him like that whenever he did something even slightly parental?

"Tony if this is because of me I don't…." Steve started but Peter cut him off.

"Don't flatter yourself. I was already grounded. You're not that important." Peter bit out ignoring his dad's grip on his shoulders tightening and the looks he received from the others in the room. He saw Nat shake her head in slight amusement as she covered her mouth with her hand.

Tony groaned, the kid didn't even last ten minutes, he clearly was his son. Spinning the boy round he bent his knees slightly so he could meet his eyes. "Peter, do we need to go to my office for another discussion? We just spoke about being disrespectful."

Peter toed his foot into the ground moodily "no sir," he mumbled blushing slightly, he couldn't believe his dad would say that in front of everyone. And he added emphasis to the word discussion! "I was just telling the truth."

Tony ran his hand down his face as he tried to decide how to deal with this. Technically Peter was telling the truth he had been grounded for invading his privacy and the extra day was added for being disrespectful, it wasn't really anything to do with Steve, but he couldn't let the boy off. "You know perfectly well that tone is unacceptable, this is your last warning kid. If I catch you talking like that again we will be going straight to my office. Now apologise."

"Sorry." Peter snarked at Steve not sounded the slightest bit apologetic.

Tony pinched the bridge of his nose as Steve accepted the non-apology. Had the man always been such a pushover or was he just uncomfortable? He grabbed his son and spun him landing two hard smacks on his ass. "Nose in the corner."

Peter's jaw dropped as he turned to look at his dad. He couldn't believe his dad had done that in front of everyone! In front of Thor! When his dad raised an eyebrow he huffed and made his way to the corner his dad was pointing to. He was being so unfair.

Sam couldn't help but raise his eyebrows at the display in front of him. He didn't know how to react, he didn't have kids of his own, he had a few nieces but he hardly ever saw them. This was new territory. He turned to look at the boy, his ears were red, probably in embarrassment, he thought it unlikely the boy regretted his actions, he was not a fan of Steve. Understandable if what he had said was true, it made sense a boy would be upset at anyone who attacked his dad, especially as apparently Stark had almost died. To a boy that had lost so many parental figures it was probably terrifying.

Peter heard conversation pick up around him and mentally thanked Uncle Rhodey for that. After several moments of silence his uncle had started chatting in order to distract everyone and he was grateful for that. As soon as he had moved to the corner he felt a few eyes on him, not loads though…but then again Nat, Bruce and Uncle Rhodey had seen him in trouble before and Hawkeye and Antman were both parents so probably knew he wouldn't appreciate staring. He shifted from foot to foot slightly, he was angry his dad had sent him here in front of everyone and smacked him but he couldn't deny that he had deserved it. He had multiple warnings but was still blatantly disrespectful to Rogers, he knew his dad was probably embarrassed by his actions, it probably made him look like a terrible dad. And he wasn't! His dad was the best.

"Pizza's have arrived sir." FRIDAY spoke and Peter couldn't have been more thankful. His dad wouldn't leave him in the corner over dinner so he couldn't have long left.

"I'll go" Clint volunteered as he dragged Sam along with him to go down and retrieve their dinner. They tended not to allow deliveries all the way up here and with so many pizzas being ordered a tip was needed so they had to go down in person rather than just tell the pizzaboy to leave them in the elevator. Also, he wanted first dibs.

"Two of the meat feasts are the kids!" Tony yelled after the retreating pair, knowing exactly why Clint wanted to fetch the pizzas. The man had taken Tony's favourite Chinese order for a month after he had flushed him out the vents that one time. He still didn't regret that to be honest, Barton's face had been hilarious. Now for his son. He did feel slightly bad about smacking the boy in front of everyone but he had it coming and if Peter's behaviour didn't sort itself out soon then it would undoubtedly happen again. He would never give his son a full spanking in front of everyone but a warning smack or two was fine in his books.

"Peter come here."

Peter blushed at his dad's words as eyes turned to stare at him from all directions until a sharp look from his mom put a stop to it. Thank god for mom. He made his way to his dad and stood in between his knees before looking into the man's eyes. "I'm sorry." He said immediately before his dad could speak.

"Thank you, but it's not just me you need to apologise to is it? We discussed your attitude not even half an hour ago and yet here we are again. You're a good, polite boy Pete, this isn't you. Your behaviour today has been unacceptable, is this really the first impression you wanted to give? Your fifteen not five but your behaviour has said otherwise son. You keep telling me you want to be treated like an adult but letting anger take over your emotions isn't something adults do." He could feel Rhodey's judgemental look at that last comment but ignored him. Peter would be better than him.

Peter knew his lip was trembling at his dad's dressing down, the man was right he did keep complaining he was being treated like a child but here he was acting like one. He knew crying would make him seem like more of one but he couldn't help himself as he fell into his dad's outstretched arms. "M-sorry dad." He mumbled into his chest not caring that he was soaking the front of his shirt.

"Ssssh it's fine Petey." Tony assured the boy as he stood up still holding onto the teen. Had Peter not been so upset he probably would complain about being carried like a toddler but the boy remained quiet. He made his way out the room towards the bathroom just down the hall, he didn't want everyone to see his son cry or himself for that matter. Peter crying always made himself feel wretched after all.

Peter tightened his grip as his dad stood but refused to move his head from the man's chest as he carried him out the room. "S-sorry for acting like a baby dad. Didn't mean to be an embarrassment."

Tony's heart broke a little at the statement and he had to swallow the lump in his throat. Once they were in the bathroom he sat on the edge of the bath. "Sssh Peter. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. Your disrespect was unacceptable, but you weren't acting like a five year old, that was wrong of me. I know you have a lot on your shoulders and you're rightfully angry and upset with Steve but I can't let you get away with being rude."

Peter nodded as his breathing calmed at his dad's words. "Sorry."

"And Peter you could never be an embarrassment, you are my son. I will always be proud of you no matter what. Yes your actions were wrong but you've been punished and it's been forgiven." Tony told the teen soothingly as he wiped his tears away with a washcloth. "Now, how about we make our way back in there, there's two pizzas with your name on them."

"Thanks dad." Peter mumbled still embarrassed about crying in front of everyone. "Will anyone…do you think…"

"No one will mention it Pete, don't worry. Now go and apologise to Steve, properly this time and we can eat."

"Yes sir."


	54. Dinner and Bonding

Peter once again stood outside the lounge with his dad's hand on his shoulder nervously trying to come up with an apology. An apology he didn't particularly mean or want to give, the last time he had at least felt bad about behaving poorly in front of everyone and being rude, but he didn't feel bad about being rude to Rogers, the man deserved it. But he also didn't want to be in even more trouble with his dad, ugh. He sighed softly as his dad propelled him back into the lounge causing everyone to look up from the huge pile of pizza boxes on the table.

"I'm sorry Captain, for being rude to you, it was wrong of me and I apologise. Sorry for being sarcastic and rude when I apologised before as well." He briefly made eye contact with the man who nodded at him accepting his apology then turned to address the room as a whole. "I'm sorry for putting everyone in an uncomfortable situation again."

Tony let out a breath of relief when Peter gave his apology, he really didn't want to have to punish the boy fully especially not when it was the first night the whole team were back together. He took a seat next to Pepper on the couch and couldn't help but grin when Peter sat between them a giant pizza on his lap.

Peter had to pinch himself, there was no way this could actually be happening, he was sitting eating pizzas with the Avengers! Sure Rogers was here so that was a bit of a damper and he had already met most of them but still. God, he wished he was able to send Ned a snapchat but noooo being grounded meant grounded from Spiderman, fun and Ned apparently. It sucked.

Clint had been watching Peter since he came back in and the boy was putting away that pizza like nobody's business, it was pretty impressive but Tony claiming two of them were for the teen had to be a ploy to keep one for himself. "Hey kid." He called across the room causing said teenager to look up. "You sure both those pizzas are for you?"

"Uh….yeah. Who else would they be for?"

"Kid, you're tiny, no way are both of those yours. Those pizzas probably weigh more than you do. I've only got one and it's a medium no chance you can eat two extra larges." He scoffed.

Peter opened his mouth to tell the archer about his metabolism but was elbowed sharply in the ribs by his dad.

"Two pizzas is nothing for the kid Barton, Why do you care so much? You think you could eat more than him? Need I remind you of the last time we had an eating competition here?"

Clint scoffed, he had tried to forget about the time he tried to eat more hot dogs than Thor to be honest. "Easy. I can definitely eat more than him."

Peter smiled and leaned forward, "How sure? How about we bet on it?"

Pepper made a noise of discontent at her son's words but he simply turned to look at her puppy dog eyes on to the max. "C'mon mom please, this is like a business transaction, it's practice." She smiled at the boy, really she should say no but those eyes….and it seemed like a good bonding experience.

"Fine."

Peter cheered before he turned to look back at Hawkeye. "If I win you have to teach me how to shoot a bow and arrow." He stated crossing his fingers in the hope his dad wouldn't stop him, it would be soooo cool to be able to shoot a bow and arrow. Admittedly it wasn't a useful skill really but still.

"Sure kid," Clint shrugged. "But when I win I want to get a go of those webs."

Peter nodded, he didn't think the man would actually be able to use the webshooters, you needed super strength for them to work but it wasn't like he'd lose so why not?

"If you spew Katniss you're on your own." Tony told the man as he stood up and made his way to the kitchen with a huge stack of boxes. "And you can't teach the kid a thing till he's off restriction.

Clint nodded as he followed the man through to the kitchen.

"I'm with my nephew." Rhodey announced as Nat, Bruce, Thor and surprisingly Sam backed him up.

When Clint turned betrayed eyes to look at Sam the man simply threw his hands up. "Hey man, he's a teenage boy, he can easily eat more than you."

"Pfft sure."

Clint sat down at the table opposite Peter and took a slice looking the kid in the eye. He would definitely win this.

Ten minutes later he realised he maybe would not be winning this. He had gotten through the first eight slices easily but was starting to struggle slightly while the teenager looked perfectly fine and was still eating with the same gusto he had been the whole time.

Tony was actually quite impressed with Barton he hadn't expected the man to eat as much as he had what with being a totally normal human…on second thoughts maybe that meant it was kind of disgusting. The man had eventually had to admit defeat however and he couldn't help but grin at his son, sure he knew Peter was going to win but he was still sort of proud despite Pepper's disapproving looks. It was only eight o'clock though and although this spontaneous competition had taken up a fair amount of time he wasn't sure what to do for the rest of the evening. It was probably rude to just send everyone away after all.

"Okay kid. You may have beaten me at this but there's no way you'll beat me at Mario Kart." Clint told the still grinning teen. How the boy could still be cheerful after eating so much was honestly a mystery. He could see everyone had relaxed somewhat during the contest though and was sure more friendly competition was the way forward. It may not be a long lasting solution to the discord within the team but if it would help everyone relax somewhat it was worth a shot.

"I'm in" Sam shouted grabbing a remote from the basket as the team headed back towards the lounge.

Peter hung back and looked up at his parents who were the only two left in the room. "Ummm…am I…I mean…" He started, he wasn't usually allowed to use electronics while grounded and Hawkeye hadn't really given him an opportunity to refuse the offer.

"You can play Pete" Tony told the boy earning a beaming smile in response, he held up a hand before Peter could run into the lounge. "It's a one off though, and if you play I don't want a single complaint out of you when you have to go to bed otherwise you'll have an early bedtime for your entire grounding."

Peter nodded at his dad, he would have agreed to almost anything to be honest. He had the opportunity to play Mario with the Avengers! So cool. Like sure he played against his dad and Uncle Rhodey occasionally but they didn't really count.

"Hey! I totally count as an Avenger Pete!"

Peter blushed at his dad's words not realising he had said that last bit aloud, he couldn't help but grin cheekily at his mom as she laughed though. "Yeah but you're dad first then an Avenger second."

Tony wasn't sure whether to be touched or offended at his son's words so settled for ruffling the kid's hair as he pushed the boy into the lounge and took the final controller for himself.

Pepper took a seat on the couch next to Natasha and simply observed as the evening wore on. She took part in the odd conversation but was content to watch as the team became more relaxed around each other. The issues from the past would not be forgotten in a single night but tonight was a good starting point for them all. Even her fiancée looked relaxed as he sat on the couch between Clint and Peter playing his sixth game of Mario, she had been worried he still felt guilty over what had happened to the team…despite having literally nothing to feel guilty over at all but still. If she had just walked in now she would have thought she had gone back in time if not for the presence of their son, coming home to see the Avengers sprawled out in the lounge surrounded by snacks while trash talking each other had been an everyday thing and she was relieved it appeared to be making a comeback.

Steve didn't know how to feel, he had been bullied into one game of Mario Kart and promptly lost badly just as he always did so now sat on a barstool as he watched the others. Although everyone appeared to be relaxed the atmosphere wasn't quite what it had been before and there was nothing he could do about it. Himself and Tony would once trade jokes but with Peter's presence he felt he shouldn't, whenever he even looked at the billionaire he could feel the teen's glare burning into him. He knew logically he shouldn't be intimidated by a child and he supposed he wasn't, he was just ashamed and burdened with guilt over his actions. He had little to no experience with teenagers other than from when he himself was one so had no idea how to get into the kid's good graces, he supposed time was the only option.


	55. Chapter 55

**Hey**

 **As some of you may have already seen I am restarting this story. I know I asked a whille ago what everyones thoughts were and I decided to continue but then I reread the earlier chapters again as I began posting on AO3 and made some changes. As I was doing this and making changes to earlier chapters I was still typing new ones for this website and realised I was writing them just because. I wasn't enjoying this version of the fic as much so I am revising it. I am currently about to go into my winter exams at university so I will be posting the updated chapters as I do this as I don't have the time for new writing and I have already done the first seven. The new fic has longer chapters as I am joining some from this fic together with added details as well as some totally new bits so I would love it if you continue reading. Sorry everyone.**

 **EmptyFridges**


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